Cardinals salvage series, beat Cubs 5-4

The St. Louis Cardinals ended the six game road trip on a high note with a 5-4 win.
May 8, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter (13) hits a triple against the Chicago Cubs during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. Image Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports
Seth Maness, pitching in relief of starting pitcher Jake Westbrook, notched his second career win. Trevor Rosenthal and Randy Choate combined to pitch the 8th inning before Edward Mujica took care of business in the 9th inning. Don’t look now but Mujica has his 9th save this season. It’s good enough for 5th place in the save rankings.

In 5.1 innings, Westbrook allowed 9 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 1 walk, and one strikeout. After his hot start to the season, Westbrook’s ERA now stands at 1.62.

Matt Carpenter, Carlos Beltran, and Yadier Molina all had great days at the plate.

Carpenter was 2 for 3 with 2 runs and 2 walks. He has scored 26 times in 31 games this season. The 26 runs lead the Cardinals and are tied for 5th in all of baseball. As for National League rankings, he is one run behind the three leaders. What Carpenter has done this season is fueling talk that David Freese could be out of a job soon, especially when Kolten Wong reaches the Cardinals–all but inevitable at this point.

Beltran was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI on the day.

Molina was 2 for 4 with a run.

After the 3-run 4th inning for the Cubs, the Cardinals were gradually able to come back into the game with runs in the 5th, 7th, and 8th innings. It was Jon Jay‘s single that won the game with Molina scoring.