Anthony Rizzo, Matt Carpenter finish strong weekends at Wrigley

Anthony Rizzo completed a weekend that would be impressive regardless of his spot in the Cubs’ lineup.

Leading off, Rizzo went 2-for-3 with an RBI during the Cubs’ 7-2 victory Sunday against the Cardinals. In the five-game series, Rizzo reached base safely in 17 of 23 plate appearances as the Cubs won three games. He became the first Cubs leadoff man to reach safely at least four times in three consecutive games since Brian McRae did it Aug. 16-18, 1996.

“He’s just been working great at-bats, using the whole field,’’ manager Joe Maddon said. ‘‘He’s not trying to force the issue with the pitchers throwing pitches in different areas. He says to me before he goes up to the plate what he’s thinking about doing. It’s really well thought out. He’s getting back to normal.”

Rizzo, who said he’s having fun in the leadoff spot, added that “it’s awesome” to get on base as much as he did.

“That’s what I want to do,” Rizzo said. “Obviously, it’s one of those streaks where it feels good to get on a lot and be on base and good things happen.”

In awe of Carpenter

Matt Carpenter’s six-game home-run streak was snapped as the Cubs held him to a bunt single in the first. But the Cubs were still amazed by Carpenter’s recent run.

“Oh, man, that was unbelievable,” Kyle Schwarber said.

“He was in a zone,” Rizzo said.

Maddon compared Carpenter’s recent run to two of the most well-known spurts in recent baseball history: Barry Bonds in the 2002 World Series and Daniel Murphy in the 2015 National League playoffs.

Like Bonds and Murphy, Maddon said Carpenter was in a phase “where the guy, every pitch that he’s thrown, he’s on time, he’s on balance with a forceful swing that looks like the ball could go out of the ballpark every time.”

During that World Series against the Angels, when Maddon was their bench coach, Bonds hit four homers and slugged 1.294 in the Giants’ seven-game loss. Murphy, as any Cubs fan will remember, homered in each game of the Mets’ four-game sweep in the NL Championship Series.

New guy to study

Maddon said that when he was a bench coach for the Angels, he had “copious notes” on opposing managers’ traits he’d have to toss when they were replaced. This weekend was Maddon’s first chance to learn about the Cardinals’ Mike Shildt, who replaced the fired Mike Matheny.

RELATED STORIES

• Theo Epstein: Cubs can’t be ‘overly reliant’ on Yu Darvish

• Anthony Rizzo stays hot at top of order as Cubs split with Cardinals

Before the game, Maddon said he’s still in the process of learning Shildt’s tendencies, but he picked up on how St. Louis is trying to play more defense while sticking with a set lineup.

“Every manager you work against, or that I’ve had a chance to, I’ve always wanted to really try to understand what’s coming out of that dugout,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘It just makes me more comfortable when I know, obviously. When you’re in that state of not knowing, you’ve got to maybe be more cautious because you don’t know how he’s going to react when you try something.”

Monday’s starter

The Cubs announced that Luke Farrell will start the series opener Monday against the Diamondbacks.

The start will be Farrell’s second of the season. In his June 23 outing in Cincinnati, he allowed three runs in 2‰ innings.