CHICAGO -- Yadier Molina had a simple goal for his ninth-inning at-bat with the bases loaded and the score tied on Sunday. Brandon Doughty Jersey . "I was looking not to strike out," he said. After fouling off some tough two-strike pitches, Molina hit a ground-ball single up the middle to drive in two runs and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped out of an offensive funk with a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. "I got a little lucky that they were playing me to pull," Molina said. "It was a good at-bat. I was able to put the ball in play and good things happened." The defending National League champions had lost four of five to fall a game below .500. The Cardinals scored all their runs with two outs. Molina, moved into the No. 2 spot to jump start the lineup, was 0 for 4 before coming through in the ninth. But it was a wild pitch in the seventh inning that allowed the Cubs to tie the score at 3 that had Molina more frustrated. The pitch from reliever Carlos Martinez was in the dirt and trickled through Molinas legs, allowing Luis Valbuena to score. "I was there," Molina said. "I dont know. Its one of those things. I was ready for it and the ball still goes through my legs." Kevin Siegrist (1-1) got the win in relief, while Trevor Rosenthal picked up his eighth save in as many opportunities despite a scare in the ninth inning. Hector Randon (0-1) took the loss for the Cubs, who were attempting to win four straight games for the first time since July. While Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had looked for Molina, one of his hottest hitters, to get the offence going, it was a couple of struggling batters at the bottom of the lineup that got things started early. With two outs in the second inning and Jhonny Peralta on first base, Randal Grichuk drilled a triple into the right-centre field gap for a 1-0 lead. Mark Ellis, who went 3 for 4, followed with a double to left-centre to make it 2-0. Both Grichuk (.167) and Ellis (.143) entered hitting well below .200. St. Louis stretched the lead to 3-0 in the third as Matt Adams doubled home Matt Holiday. The Cubs pulled within 3-2 in the fourth with some clutch two-out hitting. With one out, Ryan Kalish singled and John Baker walked. After a groundout moved the runners to second and third, Cubs starter Jason Hammel singled to right to drive in both. Molinas go-ahead single to centre came on the sixth pitch of the at-bat from Randon. "I thought I made a good pitch today, but something happened," Randon said. Molina seemed more relieved that the wild pitch wasnt a factor than he drove in the game-deciding runs. "(Molina) does a good job of not wearing his emotions and how frustrating that is for him," Matheny said. "Its hard to count the number of balls he keeps in front of him, the number of runs he saves. Its something we dont take for granted." Valbuena doubled in a run with two outs in the ninth to make it 5-4, but Rosenthal got Anthony Rizzo to ground out to end the game. "Guys kept grinding it out," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "We just fell a little short." NOTES: The ESPN broadcast team of Dan Shulman and John Kruk worked from the bleachers. ... While making a rehab start Sunday with Double A Springfield, LHP Jaime Garcia (shoulder) was hit by a pitch on the left elbow and left after two innings and 28 pitches. "I think they went in and took precautionary X-rays," Matheny said. "I havent heard anything back yet." ... In the same game, RHP Jason Motte threw a scoreless inning, striking out three, in his first rehab outing. ... Rizzo entered with a .429 on-base percentage, which was fifth-best in the National League. ... The Cards open a series in Atlanta on Monday, with RHP Shelby Miller (3-2) facing RHP Aaron Harang, while the Cubs host the crosstown White Sox with RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-3) going up against LHP Jose Quintana (1-2). Custom Miami Dolphins Jerseys . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Keeping The Captain? Brian Giontas agent Steve Bartlett told La Presse on Tuesday that the Montreal Canadiens want to keep their captain - an unrestricted free agent on July 1 - in the fold, while sources tell the paper that the two sides will start talks this week. Jermon Bushrod Jersey .Kessy tried to show what he can do playing left wing for the Oilers in 5-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday in pre-season action. http://www.dolphinsteamauthenticshop.com/c-30-dolphins-ja-wuan-james-jersey.aspx . This week, topics cover the World Series champion Red Sox, John Farrell and what to look forward to this off-season.WINNIPEG - Winnipeg Jets scoring leader Blake Wheeler was back on the ice Friday preparing for the teams final pre-season game against the Calgary Flames but with his sights also set on next weeks season opener.We want to get going, he said after an intense practice. Were getting excited, finally getting our group on the ice. It hasnt happened much over camp so I think tomorrow night will be a good time to get everyone kind of together for the first time for a little bit so it will be a nice moment.Injuries in camp have limited ice time for a lot of veterans, including Wheeler. Hes on a new line with sophomore centre Mark Scheifele and Evander Kane and admits they have a lot of work to do to get ready, something that wasnt helped by pre-season aches and pains.We need to get on the same page, he said. We need to play a little bit more simple. I think were trying to do all the right things but its tough. When you just kind of throw three guys together you know, sometimes its difficult, its not always instant magic.Weve got to work at it. Weve got to work at it in practice. Weve got to talk about it. We have the capability to create a lot of offence so I think thats going to come.Wheelers team-leading 69 points ranked him 21st on the NHL scoring list last season. The lanky 26-year-old from Plymouth, Minn., also had a career-high 28 goals.Most of the Jets veterans were back on the ice and coach Paul Maurice said the team was getting close to full health ahead of Saturdays pre-season finale against the visiting Flames. The Jets, who dropped a 4-2 decision in Calgary on Thursday, will try to improve on their 2-4 pre-season mark.Winnipeg will open the regular season Thursday at Arizona.Forward Dustin Byfuglien was back skating Friday but Maurice said he has likely missed tooo much ice time to play big minutes right away in Winnipegs top six as planned. Cameron Wake Jersey. He was originally tabbed to play on a line with team captain Andrew Ladd and centre Bryan Little.Byfuglien, who was not expected to play Saturday, said hes feeling pretty good but its hard to know when hell be back in top form.I could go out there and play a full game, like a normal game, I feel, he said. Would the legs and everything hold up? I dont know.Patrice Cormier and Eric ODell could return by mid-week. T.J. Galiardi was skating again after undergoing surgery to repair an eye injury suffered during practice a week ago.And then everybody else, if they heal the way theyre supposed to, Im hoping for a full crew on Monday, said Maurice.The Jets also placed forward Eric Tangradi on waivers Friday and will move him to their AHL farm team in St. Johns, N.L., if he clears.A bunch of guys are ahead of him, said Maurice.He said Tangradi came to camp in good shape and worked hard but the competition was tough with a lot of young talent.I dont think the role of in and out of the lineup was going to move his career along, he said. He either needs to get a fresh start with another team ... or get back to a game where he can play 18 or 20 minutes a night.Adam Lowry, 21, is one of those young players pushing the veterans at camp.The six-foot-five forward played just one season in the AHL but has looked pretty good in the pre-season. He doesnt know what his chances are of making the team.I think we still have quite a few forwards left in camp, he said. You cant look around and think too much about it. You kind of just have to focus on continuing to go out and continue to play well.If you take care of what you can do, its in managements hands whether I stay up or go down. Cheap Stitched Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Discount Jerseys Wholesale NFL Hoodies Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Throwback Jerseys ' ' '