Clutch hit by Molina gives Cardinals 60th win

The St. Louis Cardinals looked to sweep the Chicago White Sox as they entered game two of the series on Wednesday night. On Tuesday night, St. Louis powered their way to an 8-5 victory, thanks in part to a grand slam by Matt Holliday.

And while it was a low scoring affair on Wednesday night, with the help of a clutch hit from a clutch player, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated Chicago in a 3-2 victory.

For the game, the starting pitchers were Lance Lynn (7-5, 2.79 ERA) for the Cardinals, and John Danks (5-8, 4.98) for the White Sox.

It was a straightforward pitchers duel throughout the first half of the game.

But in the bottom of the sixth inning, the White Sox ended the scoreless battle between the two teams. Carlos Sanchez led off the inning with a single to center field. Adam Eaton was issued a walk by Lynn to put two on with none out. Tyler Saladino grounded into a fielder’s choice next, and Eaton was thrown out at second. Jose Abreu would follow by scoring Sanchez on a single, making it a 1-0 White Sox lead.

Then, during the very next at-bat, Melky Cabrera singled, scoring Saladino, to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.

Aside from the two runs allowed by Lynn, the veteran had another good performance on the mound, pitching until the end of the sixth inning. His final line for the evening stood at: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 Ks (with 105 pitches, 62 strikes).

In the top of the eighth inning, down 2-0 still, the Cardinals looked to make a comeback.

With Zach Duke on the mound for Chicago, Kolten Wong led off with an infield groundout. Randal Grichuk then singled, and Holliday followed by being hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second. Pete Kozma entered the game to pinch run for Holliday. Jhonny Peralta then struck out, and Jason Heyward stepped up to the plate. Due to catcher’s interference, Heyward advanced to first base, loading them for Yadier Molina.

And Molina, for the first time since 2011, hit a triple. The triple cleared the bases, and gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.

Miguel Socolovich and Trevor Rosenthal then shut down the White Sox for the remaining two innings, as St. Louis won their 60th game of the season, while Chicago lost their 50th game. Socolovich improved to 4-1, and Rosenthal earned his 29th save of the year.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)