St. Louis, MO (My Sportsbook) - Rich Harden continued his brilliance for the Cubs, throwing six effective innings to give Chicago a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the rubber match of a three-game set at Busch Stadium.

Harden (5-1) allowed two runs on five hits and a walk, with three strikeouts to take the win. Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless ninth for his 30th save of the year.

Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee and Mike Fontenot each drove in a run for the Cubs, who despite the win, have lost eight of 11.

With the win, coupled with the Brewers' loss Thursday to the Phillies, Chicago extended its lead in the NL Central to 5 1/2 games.

Todd Wellemeyer (12-7) pitched well enough to win, but his defense cost him the game. The righty gave up two runs -- none earned -- and only three hits in five innings while walking four and striking out two to take the loss.

Albert Pujols scored a run and drove in another while Felipe Lopez drove in the other run for St. Louis, which has lost two straight. The team remains 4 1/2 games behind Milwaukee for the NL wild card berth.

Wood came in to close the game, but ran into some trouble. Pinch-hitter Brendan Ryan led off with a double, and Cesar Izturis attempted a sacrifice bunt. A throw to third attempted to get Ryan, who was initially safe, but he was tagged out after sliding past the bag. The threat wasn't over, though, as Skip Schumaker hit a bloop single to put runners on first and second.

Wood was able to strike out Aaron Miles for the second out, and Pujols popped up to end the game.

The Cardinals got out of a jam in the first. Alfonso Soriano hit a ground-rule double and Theriot sent him to third on an infield single. After Lee struck out, Aramis Ramirez hit a fly ball to right, and Ryan Ludwick was able to catch the ball for the out and throw home to get Soriano, who was trying to tag from third.

The Cubs broke the scoreless tie in the fifth. Geovany Soto worked a walk and Reed Johnson reached when Pujols was unable to field a grounder to first. Two batters later Soriano walked to load the bases and Theriot worked a five- pitch walk to score a run. Lee added an RBI groundout to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.

Back-to-back doubles by Mark DeRosa and Fontenot gave the Cubs a 3-0 advantage in the sixth.

St. Louis got on the board in the sixth. Miles worked a one-out walk and Pujols knocked in his 100th run of the season, doubling to make it a 3-1 game. Two batters later Lopez singled home Pujols to make it a one-run game.

The Cardinals threatened to tie the game in the eighth, but Carlos Marmol was able to protect the lead. With runners on first and second and one out, Lopez hit a drive to deep left field, but Kosuke Fukudome made a leaping catch to record the second out. Both runners moved up, so Marmol intentionally walked Pujols to load the bases for pinch-hitter Josh Phelps, who struck out to end the inning.

Game Notes

Cubs lead season series 7-5...Chicago's games on Friday and Saturday against the Houston Astros have been postponed due to Hurricane Ike. No makeup dates have been announced...These two teams rank 1-2 in the NL in winning percentage by its starting rotation. Chicago is 62-38 (.620) and St. Louis is 57-38 (.600)...12 out of the last 16 games between the teams have been decided by two runs or less.