Molina’s eighth-inning homer powers Cards past Giants

Cardinals 4, Giants 3

Yadier Molina, batting cleanup for the first time this season, was 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs on Wednesday to lead the St. Louis Cardinals past the San Francisco Giants. Rookie Stephen Piscotty also homered for the Cardinals, who took two out of three in the series and finished 6-3 on the homestand.

By the numbers

Molina’s homer, a 399-foot blast to left against Hunter Strickland (2-3) in the eighth, was the 100th of his career and broke a 3-3 tie. ... Kevin Siegrist (5-0) worked a scoreless eighth for the win, while Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth for his 38th save. ... St. Louis maintained its five-game lead over Pittsburgh, which defeated Arizona. ... Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia allowed three runs (earned) on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out five.

Up next

John Lackey (10-7, 2.87 ERA) vs. Andrew Cashner (4-12, 4.20 ERA), 9:10 p.m. Friday in opener of three-game series in San Diego.

This story was originally published August 19, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Molina’s eighth-inning homer powers Cards past Giants."