Big first inning sets tone for hot-hitting Cards

CHICAGO — Still without a static batting order as the season nears its end, manager Mike Matheny produced his 140th different lineup on Saturday in an effort to jumpstart a recently unreliable offense. And that alignment struck a sweet spot.

After dropping seven of their past 12 games and totaling seven runs in those losses, the Cardinals broke out in a 10-4 victory over the Cubs to pull even with the Giants in the National League Wild Card race. San Francisco plays later Saturday evening, as will the Mets, who sit one game ahead of the Cardinals.

A team so-often carried by the long ball hit only one — a Statcast-projected 450-foot solo shot by Stephen Piscotty — on its way to scoring in double figures for the 17th time this season. Only the Red Sox and Rockies have done so more often.

“It should be a relentless-style offense,” Matheny said after his team’s 43rd road win. “That’s guys grinding through. It seems like we’re sitting here in this scrum after a lot of games saying we just needed that one big hit. Yadi [Molina] gives us a start and Randal [Grichuk] comes through.”

Molina’s two-run double and Grichuk’s two-run single capped a …

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