St. Louis Cardinals hand 6-3 win to Chicago Cubs to hold on to Wild Card – MLB News
Pete Kozma smashed two hits and drove in two runs to help the St. Louis Cardinals win a decisive 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Kozma bolstered the Cardinals offence, as Kyle Lohse worked to embolden the defence.
Kozma’s runs came in sixth and eighth inning when the game had entered in a competitive and edgy phase. With the victory in the opener, the Cubs had maintained pressure over the Cardinals, but the latter came out of that successfully and ended the series with a 2-1 win.
Kozma’s homer came in the sixth to increase the lead, bringing cheer and excitement to the Cardinals.
"I've been impressed with the way he moves around shortstop, and he's taken good at-bats for us," Cardinals' manager Mike Matheny said. "He's had tough at-bats. That eight-hole is not an easy place to be. He's done a nice job with the opportunities he's had."
Kozma was super happy with how things went in the game. "Every game means something," Kozma said. "I feel pretty good getting in there every day and working out the jitters."
Cardinals' batters go aggressively against Justin Germano. In his 5.2 innings, Germano allowed 10 hits and four runs, being handed out his ninth loss of the season.
Allen Craig doubled to left to make it 2-0 for the Cardinals in the third followed by David Freese’s single to centre, tripling the lead for the Redbirds. Cubs tried to make a comeback with Welington Castillo’s RBI double and then a run on Lohse’s wild pitch.
Kozma’s homer came in the sixth which made it 4-2 for the Cardinals only to be followed by Alfonso Soriano’s one-one homer that brought the Redbirds lead down to 4-3.
However, Kozma hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth and Carlos Beltran followed with a single to centre to take the lead to a safe 6-3. With the lead to the Cardinals favour, Jason Motte came and worked out a scoreless ninth to get his 40th save of the season, helping the Cardinals end the game with a 6-3 win and 2-1 series victory to continue with their Wild Card pursuit.
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