St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Kolten Wong's sixth-inning home run was the difference in the St. Louis Cardinals' 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday that gave manager Mike Matheny his 300th career win.
Lance Lynn (3-3) tossed 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball while striking out seven for the Cardinals, who had lost the first two of this three-game series.
"Lance was great, no question about it," said Matheny. "We need somebody to step up ... and that's exactly what he did."
Alfredo Simon (4-2) took the hard-luck loss after yielding both runs on seven hits over six innings. Miguel Cabrera, who had four home runs and eight RBI in his last three games, continued to swing a hot stick with an RBI single to produce Detroit's lone run.
"You always want to win a series, certainly playing against this Cardinal team that has done well" said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. "Winning two of three on the road is somewhat satisfying. They're a good team. They're going to win some games."
Ian Kinsler singled with one out in the first inning and Cabrera followed with his two-bagger to center for an early 1-0 lead.
Lynn went the next six-plus frames without allowing a run, limiting Detroit to one or fewer baserunners per inning until the eighth. Consecutive one-out walks to Kinsler and Cabrera led to Matheny going to his bullpen, ending Lynn's outing.
The move paid off, as the first pitch reliever Seth Maness threw induced an inning-ending double-play grounder off the bat of J.D. Martinez.
Trevor Rosenthal recorded his 13th save, as the game fittingly ending with Wong securing a line drive to second.
Lynn helped himself at the plate, singling in the tying run in the third inning after Peter Bourjos led off with a triple.
The Cardinals had a number of opportunities to add to their lead. With runners on second and third in the fifth inning, Jhonny Peralta grounded sharply to third and Matt Carpenter was thrown out at home. Peralta was tagged out at the plate in the seventh inning trying to score on a Yadier Molina single.
But Wong's solo homer, his fifth of the season, was enough run support for Lynn and the Cardinals. With one out in the inning, the second baseman crushed the first pitch he saw from Simon over the wall in right.
"If I put a good swing on the ball, I have a good chance to drive it out," said Wong. "I don't go up there trying to hit home runs or do anything special."
Game Notes
The Cardinals improved to 15-5 at home ... Carpenter and Molina each had two hits for St. Louis, which outhit Detroit 10-7 ... The Cardinals head on the road for a four-game series against the Mets, while the Tigers return home to host Milwaukee for a three-game interleague set.
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