Molina, Descalso lead Cards past Brewers

St. Louis, MO – Yadier Molina tallied three hits and two runs scored, while Daniel Descalso added two hits, two RBI and a run scored as the St. Louis Cardinals downed the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-3, in the opener of a three-game set.

Joe Kelly (2-4) slapped the go-ahead RBI single in the fourth and surrendered three runs on 10 hits and two walks in 5 2/3 frames for the Cardinals, who have won seven of their last 10 contests.

"He learned how to pitch when he didn't have his best stuff," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Kelly's outing. "He did a nice job of getting himself out of trouble."

Randy Wolf (3-8) had a two-run single for Milwaukee, but allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings. The Brewers had their three-game winning streak snapped.

"We let them run away from us," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Instead of keeping it close and making the plays, we let them have extra opportunities."

The Brewers jumped ahead after plating three in the second, but the Cardinals took the lead following a four-run fourth.

Allen Craig led off the frame with a single and Carlos Beltran's double two batters later put runners on second and third with one away. David Freese's single to center plated Craig and Beltran.

After Molina flied out, Descalso laced a double to left, bringing home Freese. Kelly then helped himself and singled home Descalso two batters later for a 4-3 Cards edge.

A pair of Milwaukee miscues led to two Cardinal runs in the sixth and the home team added three more in the eighth.

In the sixth, Molina stole third and scored on Martin Maldonado's throwing error. Shane Robinson, who reached with a single, scored on Corey Hart's fielding error at first during Skip Schumaker's at-bat, pushing the margin to 6-3.

Craig had an RBI groundout in the eighth, while Descalso and Holliday picked up run-scoring singles to make it 9-3.

Earlier with two outs and the bases loaded in the second, Wolf lined a two-run single to left and Norichika Aoki snuck a run-scoring base hit through the hole on the left side to give Milwaukee a 3-0 lead.

Game Notes

Wolf dropped to 9-10 in his career against the Cardinals...St. Louis was 5- for-12 with runners in scoring position, while Milwaukee finished 2- for-12...Molina's steal was his second this year.