CHICAGO (AP) — Cole Hamels is starting to look like his old self.

The 35-year-old Hamels threw eight innings of three-hit, shutout ball, Javier Báez hit a two-run homer and the Chicago Cubs topped the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Friday.

The Cubs have won 4 of 5 since being swept in a three-game series at St. Louis last weekend. The Cardinals opened a season-high 10 game road trip that will take them to Miami and New York to face the Mets.

Before starting up at Wrigley Field, the Cubs finalized a three-year contract with Craig Kimbrel that guarantees the closer $43 million. While Chicago’s bullpen should get a boost once Kimbrel arrives, its rotation is shaping up nicely.

Hamels (5-2) was sharp again, striking out a season-high 10 and walking one after a hard-luck loss last Sunday at St. Louis when he allowed two hits and one unearned run in seven innings.

Harrison Bader, who doubled in the second, was the only Cardinal to reach second base against the left-hander.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (4-6) exited after four innings with a bruised right forearm. He was struck by David Bote’s hard comebacker, knocked the ball down and tossed to first for the final out in the bottom of the fourth.

The 31-year-old Kimbrel helped Boston win the World Series, then turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from the Red Sox in November.

Kimbrel was optioned to Triple-A Iowa and will report to the Cubs training facility in Mesa, Arizona. The right-hander had been training in Florida as he awaited a deal.

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein didn’t set an exact timetable for Kimbrel’s return to the majors.

LONDON TOWN
Major League Baseball confirmed a two-game series in London between the Cubs and Cardinals at West Ham’s Olympic Stadium on June 13-14, 2020.

UP NEXT
Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (4-3, 3.76) faces Cubs LHP Jon Lester (4-4, 3.32) on Saturday night. Lester rebounded from a three-game personal slump with a solid seven-inning win over the Angels last Monday when he allowed a run on four hits. Flaherty beat the Cubs in a five-inning outing in St. Louis last weekend.