CHICAGO – Daryle Ward hit a grand slam in the third inning and Derrek Lee had three hits to help the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 Saturday.

Sean Marshall (6-6) pitched five-plus innings for Chicago, which has won three straight after a four-game skid. It was just its seventh win in 17 games.

Albert Pujols, Juan Encarnacion and Brendan Ryan homered for the Cardinals, who fell four games back of the NL Central-leading Cubs. St. Louis has dropped the first two games of the key series after coming in with a five-game winning streak.

The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 1 minute by rain and was played during occasional showers. It picked up and halted the game in the top of the eighth inning with two outs and two strikes on Chris Duncan. After a 1-hour, 5-minute delay, reliever Carmen Pignatiello struck out Duncan on one pitch to end the inning.

Marshall, who was 0-2 in his previous three starts, allowed two runs and five hits. Five relievers combined to finish it up, with Ryan Dempster pitching a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 21 opportunities.

Chicago scored all of its runs with two outs in the third. Lee singled with runners on first and third to make it 1-0. Anthony Reyes (2-12) then walked Aramis Ramirez and Ward followed with a drive to left-center for his third career grand slam. It was the first homer of the season for Ward, who came out of the dugout for a curtain call.

Ward has been getting time in right field with Cliff Floyd on the bereavement list because of the death of his father.

Marshall allowed solo drives to Encarnacion in the fourth inning and Ryan in the fifth. Pujols hit his 27th of the season off reliever Bob Howry in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-3.

The Cardinals almost scored in the sixth when Carlos Marmol threw a wild pitch with runners on first and third. The ball ricocheted off a brick wall and catcher Jason Kendall slid and flipped it to Marmol with Pujols charging home. Marmol tagged Pujols on the upper body and plate umpire Ted Barrett called him out.

Pujols pleaded with Barrett for a few seconds before Cardinals manager Tony La Russa came out to argue. After getting an explanation from Barrett, La Russa went back to the dugout. But he came out for another explanation from Barrett after Duncan struck out swinging and the ball got away from Kendall. Duncan tried to go to first but was called out when Barrett ruled the pitch hit Duncan while swinging.

Reyes allowed four hits and five runs in six innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Notes: Several players and coaches attended a wake for Cliff Floyd’s father on Saturday. Cornelius Floyd died after a long illness. … The Cubs lead the season series against the Cardinals with a 7-3 record.

AP-ES-08-18-07 2043EDT