After taking two out of three against the New York Mets, the St. Louis Cardinals headed to the Windy City, to begin a three game series against the Chicago White Sox. They looked to get payback on the White Sox after losing two games to them at Busch Stadium.
But trying to be on the winning side against the White Sox wasn’t the only piece of news floating around Cardinal Nation heading into Tuesday night, as earlier in the week, the Cardinals organization called up prospect Stephen Piscotty, as his debut has been hyped up for months.
And his debut featured his career hit, a single, as the Cardinals dominated the White Sox 8-5.
The pitching matchup for the game was Michael Wacha (10-3, 2.93 ERA) for St. Louis, and Carlos Rodon (3-2, 3.80) for Chicago.
During the top of the second inning, the Cardinals were able to score first. It started with a triple by Jhonn Peralta, followed by a walk to Jason Heyward. Matt Carpenter hit a single that scored Peralta and sent Heyward to second to make it 1-0 Cardinals.
In the top of the third, the Cardinals added to their lead once again. Matt Holliday hit a one out single to center, and Heyward hit a two out double, sending Holliday to third. Yadier Molina then singled home both runners, to make it a 3-0 Cardinals lead.
But the nail in the coffin came in the following inning.
With the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, Holliday hit his sixth career grand slam, breaking his 25 game homerless streak, his fourth home run of the season, as the Cardinals took a 7-0 lead over the White Sox.
Chicago got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. Adam Eaton led off with a walk, followed by a single from Tyler Saladino. Jose Abreu scored Eaton with a single to right field, to make it 7-1. Melky Cabrera scored Saladino with a sacrifice fly to left field.
The following inning, St. Louis once again got on the board, with a solo home run by Mark Reynolds. It was the 31-year old’s ninth home run of the season, as the Cardinals took an 8-2 lead. During the bottom of the fifth, both Geovany Soto and Saladino hit home runs, with the latter hitting a two run home run, cutting the lead to 8-5.
Seth Maness entered the game to pitch the bottom of the sixth, as Wacha’s final line of the game was: 5 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 8 Ks.
The 8-5 score remained the same throughout the remainder of the game, as Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth inning for his 28th save of the season. Wacha improved to 11-3 on the season has his outstanding season continues. Rodon dropped to 3-3 on the season.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals improved to 59-34 on the year, and 26-22 on the road, while the White Sox fell to 42-49. As for Piscotty, he went 1-4 in his major league debut.
On Wednesday, Lance Lynn will get the start for St. Louis as they look to sweep Chicago in the final game of interleague play.
(Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)
