{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 4
When: 4:05 PM ET, Saturday, August 18, 2012
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Temperature: 81°
Umpires: Home - Jim Reynolds, 1B - James Hoye, 2B - Jim Joyce, 3B - Lance Barrett
Attendance: 40313

Cardinals 5, Pirates 4: Yadier Molina returned from a sore back and got three hits, including a tiebreaking two-run double, as host St. Louis evened its critical series with Pittsburgh.

Molina’s fifth-inning ground-rule double scored Rafael Furcal and Allen Craig for a 5-3 lead, chasing Pirates starter Erik Bedard (7-13). Molina, an All-Star catcher, had missed the previous three games.

St. Louis moved within one game of Pittsburgh for the second National League wild card spot. The Pirates have dropped seven of 10.

Barret Browning (1-2) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Closer Jason Motte allowed a ninth-inning run but notched his 28th save two days after blowing one.

Cardinals backup outfielder Shane Robinson, who had been 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and less than two outs, broke a 1-1 fourth-inning tie with a two-run double to right. But Pittsburgh chased starter Lance Lynn in a two-run fifth. Rookie Jordy Mercer delivered his second run-scoring hit, doubling in Starling Marte, and Jones added a sacrifice fly.

Lynn, the slumping All-Star right-hander, allowed three earned runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He fanned eight and walked three. Bedard was touched for five earned runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Furcal was back in the leadoff spot after batting eighth for seven of the previous eight games. He went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and has five extra-base hits in his last five games. … Bedard fell to 1-3 against the Cardinals this season, his first in the NL. … St. Louis took a 6-5 lead in the season series.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Pittsburgh   St. Louis
Erik Bedard Player Lance Lynn
Loss W/L No Decision
4.2 IP 4.1
4 Strikeouts 8
9 Hits 4
9.64 ERA 6.23
Hitting
Pittsburgh   St. Louis
Gaby Sanchez Player Yadier Molina
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 2
0 HR 0
3 TB 5
1.000 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Pittsburgh 8 0 10 .229 26 14 4 3 0 0
St. Louis 11 0 15 .333 15 6 5 3 0 1