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When Willson Contreras broke through against Cubs starter Ben Brown with a two-out double in the fourth inning, No. 5 hitter Lars Nootbaar walked to the plate with a morsel of info from a Cardinals hitting coach echoing in his ear and elevating his confidence.

In their hitters meeting before the game, the Cardinals discussed how well left-handed hitters did against the Cubs right-hander 鈥� but not just in general.

He struggled specifically with runners on, they noted.

The Cardinals hardwired their lineup so it could take advantage, and to understand how Nootbaar and three other left-handed batters each hit two-run homers Monday to catapult the Cardinals to an 8-2 victory against their archrivals, begin by looking to the right. Contreras was the first of four right-handed batters to reach base directly ahead of the left-hander who homered, and Nootbaar stepped into the box aware of his edge.

鈥淲illson had a really good at-bat right before,鈥� Nootbaar said late Monday night. 鈥淗itting is contagious, and it kind of sparks you a little bit. To have him do that for us early was huge.鈥�

鈥淚 think Noot broke the ice,鈥� Alec Burleson added.

In the span of 12 plate appearances, Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, Burleson and Nolan Gorman 鈥� in that order 鈥� hit home runs to formally launch the Cardinals鈥� bid to catch the Cubs in the standings. The first meeting between the two historic rivals this season, the latest in the summer it鈥檚 happened in 28 years, gave the Cardinals their first head-to-head chance at chomping into the first-place Cubs鈥� division lead. A win Monday moved the Cardinals into a tie for second place, 3 1/2 games behind the Cubs with three more games to play at Busch Stadium this week.

They play seven times in a span of 14 games.

鈥淏etter make them count,鈥� manager Oliver Marmol said.

An hour or so after Sunday鈥檚 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, Burleson spoke with the Post-Dispatch about the strength of the Cardinals offense and how it was stringing hits not stinging homers. He said the lineup wouldn鈥檛 鈥渟lug teams to death, so to speak.鈥� He also mused that as temperatures rise, so might the ball at Busch. Well, 1 for 2 is a solid day. In the hitters meeting before Monday鈥檚 series opener, he and the other lefties learned they might just slug away.

Cubs starter Brown (4-6) entered the game with a 5.57 ERA in 15 games overall and a 6.03 ERA in 13 starts. The 25-year-old right-hander had particular difficulty with left-handed batters, who hit .299 against him and slugged .489, leading to an .862 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). Not surprisingly, production improved for all hitters with runners on base. Brown allowed a .309 average but only .417 slugging overall.

That spiked for left-handed batters, however.

Coming into the game, left-handed batters hit .333 against Brown with runners on base, and in 60 at-bats, they slugged .517. Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown detailed the pitcher鈥檚 habits and the advantage the batters would have in those spots, per multiple people present for the meeting.

鈥淲e each had an idea of what he was going to do to each of us,鈥� Burleson said. 鈥淲e had a good team approach, but we had a good individual plan as well. We were able to execute them with runners on.鈥�

The splits from left-handed hitters vs. Ben Brown and numerous options available invited stacking some together, but instead, Marmol spaced out his left-handed hitters. He marched left-right-left-right from Nos. 1 to 9, so that the only lefties to bat back-to-back were No. 9 hitter Victor Scott II and leadoff hitter Donovan when the lineup turned over. That design was to shape relief matchups later in the game 鈥� and, if it played out, take advantage of Brown鈥檚 tendencies.

It did in the fourth inning.

Both teams dealt with shadows and, not coincidentally, swift innings early. Brown and Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore each had a five-pitch first inning, and each got nine outs from their first 10 batters. Liberatore (5-6) coaxed a pivotal double play in the fifth to unplug a Cubs rally, and he cruised from there through seven innings, shadows or no. He held the Cubs to two runs on six hits. He got 16 of his 21 outs without the ball leaving the infield. Brown ran into his first difficulty after consecutive groundouts to start the fourth.

Brown threw Contreras a 2-2 curveball, and the Cardinals鈥� first baseman split the left-center gap for a double against his former team.

Here it was, exactly what they discussed.

Runner on base 鈥� and in scoring position 鈥� and a left-handed bat up.

Nootbaar got ahead 3-0 and saw three knuckle curves in the at-bat. When Brown threw a 3-2 curve, Nootbaar put it in the seats for his 10th homer of the season and a 2-0 lead.

鈥淲illson had a great at-bat to get it going,鈥� Nootbaar said. 鈥淵ou catch yourself in a 3-2 count. But you saw most of his pitches. You have an understanding of how he鈥檚 going to attack you and what he wants to do.鈥�

The next inning, right-handed-hitting Pedro Pages reached when hit by a pitch.

Donovan followed two batters later with a homer, his fifth of the season.

The next batter, right-handed-hitting Masyn Winn, earned a full-count walk to put another run on base against Brown ahead of a left-handed batter.

Burleson jumped a first-pitch change-up for a 386-foot homer, his ninth of the season.

鈥淲ithout Masyn鈥檚 3-2 walk, I don鈥檛 get the opportunity to hit a two-run homer there,鈥� Burleson said. 鈥淲hen you talk about stringing hits together, you do that by having the first guy do it before you. We hit homers today and drove them all in. With their starter specifically, we knew his slug went way up with runners on against lefties, so as soon as we got the righties on and the lefties up, we started rolling.鈥�

Nolan Arenado, a right-handed hitter, led off the sixth with a single.

Gorman crushed Brown鈥檚 81st and final pitch 415 feet for the fourth homer of the game and the fifth homer of his season.

Both Burleson and Gorman hit the first pitch they saw in their at-bats from Brown with a runner on base. Donovan hit the second 鈥� a 96.6 mph fastball he drilled 393 feet. He nearly hit another home run in the sixth off a reliever, but it was caught at the wall.

鈥淒onnie hits a homer at 109 mph and gets a homer robbed in the same game,鈥� Burleson said. 鈥淎 guy like their starter, he鈥檚 got a really good heater. All you know is you鈥檝e got to put the barrel on the ball, and he鈥檚 going to provide the power for you. That鈥檚 the name of the game. Try to get the barrel on the ball and try to hit as hard as you can.鈥�

By the time Brown left the game to the Cubs bullpen in the sixth, the Cardinals had eight runs on nine hits through five-plus innings against the right-hander.

Every time a right-handed batter reached base against him after the second inning, a lefty followed with a homer.

With runners on base against Brown, left-handed-hitting Cardinals went 4 for 7 with 16 total bases, or a slugging percentage of 2.286.

That raised the season slugging vs. Brown in that spot to .701.

鈥淪ome powerful swings. Some homers,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淟oved every second of it.鈥�