Brad Miller hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the top of the seventh inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 3-1 win over the host Chicago Cubs on Monday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader.

Miller's deep line drive to the gap landed just beyond the glove of Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr., who tried to make a diving catch to preserve the tie in a shortened seven-inning game.

The Cardinals improved to 3-1 since returning from a long layoff as the team dealt with an outbreak of COVID-19 among players and staff members.

The Cubs dropped their fourth game in a row. All of those defeats have come by one or two runs.

Cardinals right-hander Giovanny Gallegos (1-0) earned the victory after pitching a scoreless inning of relief. Fellow reliever Andrew Miller delivered a flawless seventh inning to pick up his second save.

Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks (3-2) took the loss after allowing three runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the seventh. Paul Goldschmidt led off the inning with a double to left-center field, Tyler O'Neill drew a walk, and Matt Carpenter lashed a hard-hit single to right field.

That brought rookie Dylan Carlson to the plate, but Cubs shortstop Javier Baez fielded his ground ball up the middle and fired a throw home to retire Goldschmidt for the forceout. Miller then stepped to the plate and delivered a go-ahead hit to score O'Neill and Carpenter.

St. Louis grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on Dexter Fowler's solo shot to right field. He connected on an 0-1 fastball and sent it over the right field wall for his second home run of the season and the 125th of his career.

In the bottom of the fourth, Chicago evened the score at 1-1 on a solo homer by Ian Happ. It was his fourth home run, which ranks second on the team behind Anthony Rizzo (five).

--Field Level Media