Yadi, pitching clutch as Cards keep Cubs reeling

CHICAGO -- Yadier Molina walked slowly out to the mound and put his arm around Cardinals closer Carlos Martínez shoulder. With a one-run lead and two outs in the ninth inning, Martínez had walked Cubs pinch-hitter Tony Kemp and thrown a ball to Ben Zobrist.

The two talked for a few seconds before Molina went back to the plate. On his next pitch, Martínez fired a 98-mph fastball to Zobrist for a strike. And three pitches later, Zobrist grounded out to first base to seal the Cardinals’ 2-1 win on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

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Molina’s mound visit was a minor one -- a quick breather and chat for Martínez, who was coming off giving up three runs in the ninth inning Thursday night -- but it calmed Martínez down enough that he could lock down his 22nd save of the season. And it spoke to the way that Molina impacts the game on every level.

“I don’t know where to even begin describing [Molina],” reliever John Brebbia said. “He’s got an intuitive nature about baseball that I think is extremely hard to find, even with people who have been in the game as long as he has. It’s a special thing to have someone like that behind the plate.”

“There’s warriors, there’s gladiators, and he’s better than that,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt added. “He’s the toughest, smartest guy I may ever know.”

Molina was also the one who made sure Martínez would close the game in the first place. He had three of the Cardinals’ four hits, and his go-ahead two-run single up the middle in the sixth inning ended up being the difference.

“We’re playing good baseball right now,” Molina said. “We’re winning games; that’s what matters right now.”

With the victory, the National League Central-leading Cardinals have won the first two games of this crucial four-game series, and they kept their lead over second-place Milwaukee at three games. Chicago fell to five games behind the Cardinals and two games back of the second NL Wild Card spot.

The Cardinals mustered just two hits off Cubs spot starter Alec Mills across his 4 2/3 innings. But Mills was accustomed to pitching out of the bullpen before subbing for Cole Hamels, so he was pulled after 81 pitches. Then, the Cardinals just had to be a little more patient.

Paul Goldschmidt, Marcell Ozuna and Matt Carpenter all walked -- without swinging the bat once -- to begin the sixth inning and set Molina up for success.

“Got one more than them,” Shildt said. “Yadi with the big hit. The flipside of that was a lot of really good at-bats. Just got to figure out a way to let the game come to us more, then get the ball up the middle of the field. That’s where Yadi did his damage.”

The Cardinals left 12 on base, but Molina assured his RBIs would stand by guiding the Cardinals’ pitchers and limiting the Cubs’ offense to just the one run, which came against starter Michael Wacha in the second of his four innings. The Cubs threatened to score more by loading the bases in the second, but Wacha got Nico Hoerner to ground into a double play, one of four by the Cubs’ offense on the day.

Then, in the seventh, Brebbia allowed two singles and a two-out walk. But Kris Bryant hit a ball to the warning track, where Ozuna caught it to end the inning.

“[Molina is] a force,” Brebbia said. “When he goes, on defense and on offense, I think that we can go. To have him hitting the way he is, to have him catching the way he is, is always special.”