Bethancourt, Busch homer in 5-run 2nd inning as Cubs spoil Fedde's debut with Cardinals 6-3

CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Bethancourt and Michael Busch homered in a five-run second inning and the Cubs spoiled the Cardinals’ debut of new acquisition Erick Fedde as Chicago stretched its winning streak to three games with a 6-3 victory over St. Louis on Friday.

Tyson Miller (3-1), the first of four relievers, earned the victory and Héctor Neris picked up his 15th save as Chicago won its third straight game against its NL Central rivals.

The Cubs’ big inning came against Fedde (7-5), who was acquired earlier in the week from the White Sox in a three-team trade.

“I had terrible command,” Fedde said of the second inning. “It brought me to long at-bats where I couldn’t put people away.”

The 31-year-old right-hander gave up the first five runs and six hits and finished with four strikeouts in five innings.

“We had a really good second inning and put pressure on them right away,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell, whose team needed a three–run ninth to top the Cardinals a night earlier.

Rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong added an RBI single in the second before Bethancourt hit a three-run homer to right-center field.

“I was just trying to hit the ball in the gap,” Bethancourt said. “Thank God I got that one very well and hit it out of the park.”

Busch followed a batter later with a solo shot.

Seiya Suzuki scored from second in the eighth inning after Kyle Leahy’s errant pickoff throw dribbled into center field.

The Cardinals got all three runs by drawing bases-loaded walks. Paul Goldschmidt earned the first off Assad in the third, and Tommy Pham and Brendan Donovan got two-out passes in the eighth from Julian Merryweather and Neris, respectively. Neris struck out pinch-hitter Brandon Crawford to end the threat.

Masyn Winn added two hits for St. Louis, which has dropped five of its last eight games.

Cubs starter Javier Assad allowed four hits, walked three and struck out three in the opening four innings.

UP NEXT

St. Louis’ Kyle Gibson (7-4, 3.97 ERA) faces fellow right-hander Jameson Taillon (7-6, 3.35) on Saturday.

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Chicago Cubs' Christian Bethancourt runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Cubs' Christian Bethancourt hits a three-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Cubs' Cody Bellinger, left, slides safely into second base as St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn, right, jumps during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki, left, slaps hands with Dansby Swanson (7) after scoring on a throwing error by St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Leahy during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Erick Fedde throws against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki, left, runs by St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Leahy (62) to score on a throwing error by Leahy during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Cubs catcher Christian Bethancourt, left, and pitcher Héctor Neris, right, celebrate after their win over the St. Louis Cardinals in a baseball game Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

U.S. stocks are drifting in early trading after leaping to records the day before as part of a worldwide rally. The S&P 500 was down 0.2% Friday but still on track for its fifth winning week in the last six. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 63 points, or 0.2% after likewise setting its own all-time high the day before. The Nasdaq composite was flat. FedEx slumped after its profit and revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. Nike jumped after naming Elliott Hill as its chief executive. Treasury yields rose in the bond market.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Wall Street pointed lower Friday as a rally driven by the Federal Reserve’s big cut to interest rates faded and markets' focus turned to earnings and other corporate news.

Futures for the S&P 500 shed 0.2% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were essentially unchanged.

Fedex tumbled more than 13% in after-hours trading after the package delivery company's first-quarter earnings came up woefully short of Wall Street expectations. FedEx's profit per share came in 20% below forecasts and a nearly a dollar short of the same period a year ago. The company blamed flagging demand for certain services and higher operating expenses.

Nike shares got a boost from news that the athletic shoe company named Elliott Hill as its president and CEO, replacing John Donahoe. Its shares rose 6.6% as investors applauded the change that will bring Hill, who retired from the company in 2020, back to run the show.

Shares in Trump Media and Technology Group slid 5.7% to all-time lows as the lockup period for the company's biggest shareholder, former President Donald Trump, ended.

Trump owns more than half of the $3 billion company behind the Truth Social platform. But Trump and other insiders in the company have been, until today, unable to cash in because a “lock-up agreement” has prevented them from selling any of their shares. Trump has said he's in no rush to sell.

U.S. indices rose to record highs on Thursday after the Federal Reserve delivered its first cut to interest rates in more than four years a day earlier.

That closed the door on a run where the Fed kept its main interest rate at a two-decade high in hopes of slowing the U.S. economy enough to stamp out high inflation. Now that inflation has fallen from its peak two summers ago, Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed can focus more on keeping the job market solid and the economy out of a recession.

The Fed is still under pressure because the job market and hiring have begun to slow under the weight of higher interest rates. Some critics say the central bank waited too long to cut rates and may have damaged the economy.

Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX, the CAC 40 in Paris and London's FTSE 100 were all down in the neighborhood of 0.8%.

The Bank of Japan ended a two-day monetary policy meeting by announcing it would keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.25%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index soared 1.5% to close at 37,723.91 after the nation's key inflation data in August accelerated for a fourth consecutive month. The core consumer price index rose 2.8% year-on-year in August, exceeding the central bank’s 2% target and leaving room for further rate hikes.

Markets are closely watching for hints on the pace of future rate hikes from BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda.

“For the BOJ, given current economic conditions and recent central bank rhetoric, further policy adjustments are not expected until later this year or early 2025,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a commentary.

The U.S. dollar rebounded against the Japanese currency, rising to 144.14 yen from 142.62 yen late Thursday. The euro rose to $1.1167 from $1.1161.

China refrained from further monetary stimulus as the central bank left key lending rates unchanged on Friday. The 1-year loan prime rate (LPR), the benchmark for most corporate and household loans, stays at 3.45%, and the 5-year rate, a reference for property mortgages, was held at 3.85%.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.4% to 18,258.57 and the Shanghai Composite index edged up less than 0.1% to 2,736.81.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% at 8,209.50. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.5% to 2,593.37.

India's Sensex gained 0.9% and Taiwan's Taiex was up 0.5%.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked down to 3.71% from 3.73% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, ticked up to 3.61% from 3.59%.

In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 32 cents to $70.84 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined 31 cents to $74.56 per barrel.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.7% to 5,713.64 for one of its best days of the year and topped its last all-time high set in July. The Dow leaped 1.3% to 42,025.19, and the Nasdaq composite led the market with a 2.5% spurt to 18,013.98.

A bus passes the Wall St. subway station on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Trader Michale Conlon, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's news conference appears on a television screen behind him, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index and Japanese Yen exchange rate at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People ride bicycles in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person rides a bicycle in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)