Yadier Molina helps St. Louis Cardinals avoid sweep in 5-4 win over Chicago Cubs

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina helped the club avoid the sweep as the Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs in a 5-4 win.
May 4, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Trevor Rosenthal (26) and catcher Yadier Molina (4) shake hands after beating the Chicago Cubs 5-4 at Wrigley Field. Image Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
With two outs and the bases loaded, Molina stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth inning. Batting in the 2-hole as manager Mike Matheny tries to jump-start the offense, it came down to Molina to defeat the Chicago Cubs. Molina hit a slow roller up the middle and was lucky that Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro was playing closer to third base than second or it would have been the end of an inning.

Instead, Castro had no chance of getting to the baseball before it made its way to center field. In his only hit of the night, Molina drove in both Randal Grichuk and Mark Ellis.

With Trevor Rosenthal pitching and two outs, the Cardinals had a scary moment when left fielder Matt Holliday didn’t quite get to the ball for what would have been a spectacular catch. Instead, Luis Valbuena ended up at second base with a double and an RBI.

The Cardinals opted not to go with Tony Cruz as Lance Lynn‘s batterymate once more and it paid off. Boy, did it ever pay off.

In six innings, Lynn allowed two runs on six hits. He walked four and struck out five. Pitching in relief, Carlos Martinez blew the save and allowed one run on one hit. He walked one and struck out one.

Flame-throwing left-handed reliever Kevin Siegrist picked up the win as he pitched the 8th inning with three strikeouts.

Rosenthal came in to pitch the ninth inning. He picked up his 9th save of the season after allowing one run on one hit. He walked one and struck out one.

The Cards got on the board in the second inning when Grichuk hit his first career triple and drove in shortstop Jhonny Peralta. Ellis doubled and drove in Grichuk. It was the first of three hits in the game for the second baseman.

In the third inning, Matt Adams doubled and drove home Holliday.

The bottom of the third was very scary. With one out, three consecutive walks loaded the bases for the Cubs. Fly outs to center and left field ended the inning. That being said, Grichuk made a heck of a catch in center field that Jon Jay does not get to. Only Grichuk and Peter Bourjos make that catch and save the runs from scoring.

The Cubs got on the board in the fourth on a two-run single from Jason Hammel.

The Cardinals had 11 hits on the night while batters were 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Matt Carpenter, Ellis, and Adams all had multi-hit nights.