Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run homer off a struggling Jon Lester, and the Cardinals gained ground in the NL Central race with a 7-3 victory over the Cubs.

St. Louis pulled within 1 1/2 games of Chicago with its third consecutive win over the division leaders, sweeping a doubleheader on Saturday after the Cubs won 4-1 in the series opener Friday night. The longtime rivals have one game left in their pandemic-shortened season series on Monday.

Tommy Edman also homered for the Cardinals, and Harrison Bader had three hits. Dakota Hudson (2-2) worked five innings of three-run ball, shrugging off a shaky start.

Chicago dropped to 10-15 since its 13-3 start. Anthony Rizzo and Jason Kipnis homered for the Cubs, but Lester (2-2) lasted just 3 1/3 innings in another lackluster performance.

St. Louis went ahead to stay with four runs in the third. With one out and runners on first and second, Goldschmidt hit a massive drive to left that landed on Waveland Avenue for his fourth homer.

Tyler O'Neill singled with two out and scored on Rangel Ravelo's double, giving the Cardinals a 5-3 lead.

Paul DeJong, who had two hits and drove in a run, said St. Louis' lineup has been working well as a group.

Lester allowed six hits, struck out four and walked two, extending his winless stretch to five starts. The 36-year-old left-hander is 0-1 with a 9.26 ERA during the slump, yielding 40 hits in 23 1/3 innings.

The Cardinals added two more in the sixth, taking a 7-3 lead on RBI singles by Kolten Wong and DeJong. Wong is batting .393 (11 for 28) in his last seven games.