Molina's 10th Inning Heroics Lift Cards to Win

(Wednesday, September 19th) Final Score: St. Louis 2, Philadelphia 1 (10 innings) St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Yadier Molina singled home the game-winner in the 10th inning, as the St. Louis Cardinals downed the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1, to conclude a three-game series at Busch Stadium. The Cards got the game-winner in the 10th off closer Brett Myers (4-7). Miguel Cairo singled, stole second, and with two outs, Molina beat a single into left field where Jayson Werth failed to make a throw home. Molina ended 3-for-5 for the Cardinals, who ended a three-game skid. Adam Wainwright, who finished 2-for-3 and drove in the other run for St. Louis, allowed one run on four hits with four walks and seven strikeouts over eight innings. Randy Flores (3-0) tossed a scoreless 10th for the win. Carlos Ruiz went 2-for-3 for the Phillies, who had their season- high tying six-game winning streak snapped, and, coupled with the Mets 8-4 win over Washington, dropped to 2 1/2 games of New York for first place in the NL East standings. Philadelphia also fell 2 1/2 games back of San Diego in the wild card race, as the Padres rallied in the ninth inning for a 5-3 win over the Pirates. After five scoreless innings, both clubs logged a run in the sixth. With two outs, Chase Utley got hit by a pitch, and just beat the throw home on a Pat Burrell double. Ryan Howards walk put two men on base, but Aaron Rowand popped out to second. In the home half, after a pair of groundouts, Skip Schumaker walked and scored after consecutive singles by Molina and Wainwright. Aaron Miles next walked, but David Eckstein flied out, as the Cards also stranded runners at first and second. The Phils tried to rally in the ninth off reliever Ryan Franklin, who gave up singles to Ruiz and Greg Dobbs. Shane Victorinos groundout moved everyone up a base, but Jimmy Rollins grounded out down the first-base line to end the frame. The Cards mounted a threat in the ninth. Ryan Ludwick grounded a lead-off single and Miles laid a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Eckstein followed with a single that Werth misplayed in left field, but Werth recovered in time to prevent Ludwick from rounding third. After a coaching visit to the mound, So Taguchi lined out to Victorino, whose momentum and strong-arm reputation prevented any movement along the basepaths. Rick Ankiel then also lined out to Victorino, as the game went into extra innings. The Phils blew a chance to score in the 10th when Utley got hit by a pitch and Howard walked with one out, but Flores struck out Rowand swinging and Werth looking. Game Notes The Phillies won six of their nine matchups with the Cardinals this year, including two of three in St. Louis from June 22-24. Philadelphia swept the club in St. Louis in three games last year from August 1-3...The Cardinals stranded 12 men on base while Philadelphia left 11.