St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina, Cards walk off in the 9th

The St. Louis Cardinals needed their last at-bats to down the Chicago White Sox last night in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Cardinals received prompt hitting last night against the White Sox to win 3-2. Tommy Pham started the scoring for the Cardinals with a solo shot in the bottom half of the first inning off starter James Shields. It was Pham’s fourth home run of the season.

St. Louis starter Michael Wacha did a nice job of keeping the White Sox off the scoring sheet for the first three innings. However, Wacha found some trouble in the top half of the fourth inning. After securing the first out, Wacha then allowed two walks to batters before Yoan Moncada stepped to the plate. Moncada, who batted .371 over the last week with three home runs, doubled to center field to score two and push the game to 2-1 White Sox.

From there, pitchers on both teams shut the door.

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Shield went six innings while only giving up a single run to St. Louis Cardinals hitters, whereas Wacha went five innings while giving up two runs. The Cardinals relied on a quartet of relievers to keep the game close as Luke Gregerson, Jordan Hicks, Dominic Leone, and Bud Norris all received an inning of work.

The Cardinals had a couple of opportunities to score before the ninth inning. Matt Carpenter doubled in the seventh inning and reached third on a wild pitch. Marcell Ozuna grounded into a fielder’s choice and Carpenter was out at home on the play.

Ozuna stole second base with Yadier Molina at the plate. After a Molina single, Dexter Fowler flew out to end the innings. In the eighth, Paul DeJong and Jedd Gyorko stood on second and first, respectively, when Pham grounded into a double play.

The White Sox brought on Joakim Soria to save the game, but the Cardinals had other plans. Carpenter hit a home run to lead off the inning to tie the game at 2-2. It was his third home run of the season. Ozuna then doubled to right field to put himself in scoring position to win the game. Then in stepped Yadi, and he delivered a double to deep left to score the winning run from second base.

Quick thoughts

• John Mozeliak recently said Greg Holland would not be used in the ninth innings until he was ready. Bud Norris would be the Cardinals closer for the time being. But my question is when will Holland find his groove? He seemed to be close not too long ago, but reverted back to his issues recently. Keep Norris in the closing situations for as long as it takes.
• The Cardinals were only able to score a single run off James Shields, who came into the game with a 6.14 ERA. Fortunately for the Cardinals, he didn’t pitch all game. But the Cardinals should have won this game pretty easy. I get some days you just won’t have it, but when you’re facing pitchers like Shields you have to find a way to score runs early and often.
• Don’t think I’m not happy about the win though. After being swept by the Pirates over the weekend, the St. Louis Cardinals needed a boost. A walk off win could help propel this team to a good rest of the week before the Cubs come to town over the weekend. Just remember, a win is a win.
• Tommy Pham at leadoff seems to be working.
• It was nice to see Molina get two hits yesterday, including his game-winning double. Before last night, Molina only had two hits in his last twenty-four plate appearances. His average and overall play seemed to take a hit over the last week, but hopefully this game gets him back on track.

Next: Strike outs outweighing hits

The St. Louis Cardinals are set to kick off game two here in a little bit. Hopefully Carlos Martinez can continue his hot start to the season.