Matt Carpenter hit a solo homer off Craig Kimbrel in the top of the 10th inning to give the St Louis Cardinals a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs Thursday night in game one of their key four game series at Wrigley Field. The Redbirds had lost a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth when the Cubs rallied off Carlos Martinez to tie the game. They had been shackled by Cardinal starter Jack Flaherty who allowed only one run on three hits over eight innings. Anthony Rizzo made a surprise start for the Cubs and hit a solo homer off Flaherty after not playing since Sunday with a sprained ankle. The win puts the Cardinals four games up on the Cubs for the NL Central lead with nine to play. The loss also dropped the Cubs into third as Milwaukee passed them into second place. The Brewers are also one game ahead of the Cubs for the second NL wild card. Game two is Friday afternoon with Michael Wacha (6-7) set to go for the Cards and Jose Quintana (13-8) for the Cubs. The game can be heard on Lite 103 WAKO beginning with the pregame at 12:45 p.m. Central Time 1:45 Eastern.