CHICAGO (AP) — The All-Star break is over. It’s right about now when the Chicago Cubs usually take off.

Jason Heyward had three hits and two RBIs, Ian Happ belted a two-run homer and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-6 on Thursday night for their fourth consecutive victory.

Chicago and St. Louis returned a day earlier than the rest of the majors, but it sure looked like business as usual for the NL Central leaders. The Cubs improved 150-73 after the All-Star break since 2015, baseball’s best such record over that stretch.

Anthony Rizzo added two doubles from the leadoff spot as Chicago moved a season-high 18 games over .500. Victor Caratini had three hits and scored three times in the opener of a five-game series, and Ben Zobrist delivered a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the Cubs’ five-run fifth inning.

With the abbreviated break, Maddon held All-Stars Willson Contreras and Javier Baez out of the starting lineup. Caratini and Zobrist picked up the slack quite nicely as Chicago increased its advantage to a season-high three games over idle Milwaukee.

Yadier Molina matched a career high with four hits for St. Louis, but interim manager Mike Shildt was handed his first loss in his second game in charge after Mike Matheny was fired Saturday night. Tommy Pham and Matt Carpenter each hit a solo homer.

The Cardinals had a 3-1 lead before the Cubs started teeing off on Carlos Martinez (6-6) in the fifth.

Martinez allowed six runs, five earned, and seven hits in five innings. The right-hander went 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA in his previous four starts.

Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks also struggled, yielding nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. But he wiggled out of a couple jams while limiting the Cardinals to three runs.

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Cubs ace Jon Lester and Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty get the ball on Friday afternoon. Lester (12-2, 2.58 ERA) is 8-0 with a 2.80 ERA in his last nine starts. Flaherty (3-4, 3.24 ERA) pitched five shutout innings in a no-decision against Cincinnati in his previous start on Saturday.