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 But Molina gave it to him anyway, and in dramatic fashion.
Cracking the 100th homer of his career to lead off the bottom of the
eighth inning, Molina lifted St. Louis to a 4-3 win over the San
Francisco Giants at Busch Stadium.
The milestone homer came off a hanging 0-1 breaking ball from
reliever Hunter Strickland (2-3) and traveled 399 feet to the seats
in left field. Molina's second homer in three nights gave the
Cardinals (77-43) their sixth consecutive series win.
"I can't lie to you. I was thinking about it," Molina said of
reaching 100 homers. "I'm glad I was able to do it so soon and do it
to help us win a game."
The crowd of 40,278 demanded and got a curtain call from Molina. The
33-year-old catcher also initiated the scoring in the first with a
two-out RBI single and caught Giants second baseman Kelby Tomlinson
stealing to end the seventh, doing so from his knees for the second
time in the series.
From his perch in the dugout, Matheny enjoyed watching Molina's
all-around performance.
"I've been watching him take extremely good at-bats lately," Matheny
said of the man he mentored while serving as the starting catcher
for St. Louis' National League championship team in 2004. "He got us
started tonight, and his throw to second was extremely quick. That's
the type of leadership he brings."
Molina's blast made a winner of reliever Kevin Siegrist (5-0), who
worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth for his second victory of
the series. Closer Trevor Rosenthal pitched a clean ninth for his
38th save in 40 chances, fanning pinch hitter Madison Bumgarner for
the last out.
Bumgarner, San Francisco's ace pitcher, had a pinch-hit single
Tuesday night and got the call again as manager Bruce Bochy operated
a man shy on the bench for the second straight game with right
fielder Hunter Pence unavailable due to an oblique injury.
"A hard-fought game," Bochy said. "We scratched and clawed, but we
just couldn't hold on. There's a reason they have the record they
do, and they did what they had to to win the game."
Stifled for the first four innings by left-hander Jaime Garcia, the
Giants wiped out a 2-0 deficit with single runs in the fifth, sixth
and seventh.
Pitcher Matt Cain's bases-filled sacrifice fly brought home a run in
the fifth, and shortstop Brandon Crawford lined an RBI single to
equalize in the sixth. Tomlinson snapped the tie an inning later,
greeting reliever Steve Cishek with a run-producing single.
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St. Louis responded in its half of the seventh. Center fielder Tommy
Pham scored the tying run on a fielder's choice bouncer by third
baseman Matt Carpenter, beating Tomlinson's low, hurried throw home
with a head-first slide.
The Cardinals hit Cain pretty hard for three innings, collecting six
hits, including a one-out solo homer from right fielder Stephen
Piscotty in the third. Piscotty could have had a homer in the first,
but center fielder Juan Perez climbed the wall in right-center and
brought the ball back.
Cain found a rhythm after Piscotty's homer and retired 10 of the
last 11 men he faced, leaving with a 3-2 lead. He walked one and
fanned six in six innings, his best outing since a 7-1 win July 22
in San Diego.
"I felt good," he said. "I had a lot better rhythm out there today,
and that's the important thing for me."
Garcia also got a no-decision after lasting 6 1/3 innings. He
allowed seven hits and three runs, walked one and fanned five.
The result kept St. Louis five games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates
in the National League Central and denied the Giants a chance to
pull within a game of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
NOTES: San Francisco RF Hunter Pence (left oblique) probably will go
on the 15-day disabled list Thursday before the Giants open a
four-game series in Pittsburgh. The Giants are expected to activate
OF Nori Aoki (concussion) from the seven-day DL. ... St. Louis OF
Jason Heyward (left hamstring) didn't start for the second straight
game, though he appeared as a pinch hitter. He hopes to return to
the lineup in San Diego on Friday night when the Cardinals start a
10-game trip. ... St. Louis OF Jon Jay (left wrist) will accompany
the team on its West Coast swing and is expected to dive into
significant baseball activity. Jay has been on the 15-day DL since
July 1.
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