07-27-2019, 01:04 AM
CHICAGO -- Once again, the Cardinals relied on Matt Adams clutch bat. Adams drove in four runs, A.J. Pierzynski had three hits in his St. Louis debut and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Saturday to stop a four-game skid. Adams doubled sharply in the first inning, a one-hopper that bounced past first baseman Anthony Rizzo and into right field to score two runs. Adams two-run triple with two outs in the seventh made it 5-2. "He was our guy today," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "If you look at when we started to gain some traction in our division, its when Matt started to go. Not to put the pressure on him, but he was the guy at the time and hes continued to do that, to step up big for us." Helping out Adams was the 37-year-old Pierzynski, who signed with the Cardinals on Saturday, 10 days after he was released by Boston. St. Louis had been looking for a steady presence behind the plate since All-Star catcher Yadier Molina tore a ligament in his right thumb July 9. Molina had surgery two days later and is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks. "That was pretty much a cram session for A.J. there," Matheny said. "He did a nice job coming in, obviously making an impact with the bat, but I felt like he had a nice feel for what Shelby (Miller) was doing." Miller returned to the Cardinals rotation and pitched effectively into the sixth inning. The young right-hander began the game with three perfect innings and retired 16 of his first 18 batters. In his first start since being removed from the rotation July 10, Miller allowed two runs and three hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had given up at least three runs in his previous five starts. Randy Choate (2-2) got the last out of the sixth. Trevor Rosenthal worked around two hits in a scoreless ninth, earning his 31st save in 35 tries. "When you get in a groove and youre feeling pretty good, in a rhythm, you just keep going," Miller said. "Thats kind of what I felt like I did today." Nate Schierholtz hit a solo shot for the Cubs in the sixth, tying it at 2. It was Schierholtzs fourth career pinch-hit homer. Rizzo drove in a run with a groundout in the fourth. Cubs starter Jake Arrieta settled in after the two-run first inning, allowing just three baserunners the rest of the way. He thwarted Cardinals threats in the fourth and fifth, and a diving catch by left fielder Chris Coughlan helped Arrieta escape the sixth. "He did it with not his best stuff, but he was still pretty effective," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "That performance was probably indicative of how much hes grown." With Arrieta out of the game, the Cardinals pulled back ahead in the seventh, scoring four runs against reliever James Russell (0-2). Jon Jay hit a leadoff single, advanced on a sacrifice and stole third before scoring the tiebreaking run on Matt Carpenters grounder. Russells four earned runs allowed marked his worst outing since July 21, 2012, when he gave up six, also against the Cardinals. Ryan Sweeney hit a leadoff homer against Pat Neshek in the eighth, his third home run of the season and second this series. NOTES: Adams had only four RBIs in his previous 23 games against the Cubs. ... Pierzynski, who batted sixth for the Cardinals, was booed loudly by the Wrigley Field crowd during his first at-bat. Pierzynski played seven seasons on the south side of Chicago for the White Sox. ... The Cubs optioned RHP Neil Ramirez to Triple-A Iowa and recalled RHP Blake Parker. The 25-year-old Ramirez has a 0.96 ERA in 33 appearances this season. Renteria indicated the move was made to give Ramirez a rest and was not based on performance. ... Rizzo went 0 for 4, ending his 10-game hitting streak. ... Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (12-5, 2.02 ERA) pitches the series finale Sunday against Kyle Hendricks (1-0, 2.77), who will make his third big league start. 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Wood beat Cincinnati for the first time in his career, repeatedly pitching out of threats for seven innings, and Chicago stalled the Reds week-long surge with a 2-0 victory Monday night.Four-time Olympic gold medallist Lisa Leslie headlines the 2015 womens basketball Hall of Fame induction class announced Saturday. She is joined by former Houston Comets star Janeth Arcain, University of Georgia standout Janet Harris, former Duke coach Gail Goestenkors, longtime Oregon high school coach Brad Smith and Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke, who was killed in a plane crash in 2011. The Immaculata teams that won championships from 1972-74 will receive the Halls trailblazer award. Leslie also won two WNBA titles with the Los Angeles Sparks and was the leagues MVP three times. She helped the U.S. win gold medals at the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics. The group will be inducted next June at the Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee. Arcain had a stellar career playing for Brazil. She guided the team to a gold medal at the 1994 world championship as well as a silver and bronze at the Olympics. She came to the WNBA in 1997 and was the 13th pick in the draft. She helped lead the Comets to WNBA championships in the leagues first four years. Harris starred at Georgia from 1981-85, earning All-SEC honours all four seasons. Shes the schools all-tiime leading scorer with 2,641 points and rebounder (1,394).dddddddddddd. She helped the Lady Bulldogs win the SEC crown in 1983 and 1984 and reach the Final Four twice. Goestenkors guided Duke and Texas to the NCAA tournament 18 straight years, including four trips to the Final Four and two national championship game appearances. She was The Associated Press coach of the year in 2007 and is ninth among all-time Division I coaches in winning percentage. Goestenkors is now an assistant with the Los Angeles Sparks. Smith has won 629 games and 26 league championships while coaching at Oregon City High School over 27 years. In 2012 he received the Morgan Wooten Award for lifetime achievement in coaching high school from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Budke was a successful coach at Louisiana Tech before arriving at Oklahoma State in 2005. He was 80-16 while in charge of the Lady Techsters, leading them to three consecutive NCAA tournaments. In his five years at Oklahoma State, Budke appeared in three NCAA tournaments, including a trip to the regional semifinals in 2008. He died on Nov. 17, 2011, when he was out recruiting. ' ' '