CHICAGO (AP) — Paul DeJong had an RBI double in the 10th inning and the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Sunday.
DeJong lined a pitch from Keynon Middleton (2-1) down the left field line to score Nolan Gorman, who started the inning on second base.
St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras drilled a two-run homer and reached base four times with two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch. He’s 11 for 17 with two homers and five RBIs in his last five games.
Contreras batted fourth and returned behind the plate after missing two games following a dental procedure on Friday. The catcher was charged with two passed balls and a throwing error.
JoJo Romero (1-0), the fourth Cardinals reliever, pitched two innings for his first career win.
The Cardinals tied it at 3 in the top of the ninth after they loaded the bases against Kendall Graveman with one out.
Alec Burleson's chopper up the middle glanced off Graveman's glove, and the White Sox were able to get only an out at second, instead of a game-ending double play. Lars Nootbar scored from third.
Graveman allowed a double to Nootbar to open the inning, then went on to walk a batter and hit two others with pitches before escaping with just one run scored by striking out Gorman.
Zach Remillard scored Chicago's third unearned run of the game on Luis Robert Jr.'s sacrifice fly in the eighth to put Chicago ahead 3-2.
In his first start since May 24, St. Louis left-hander Steven Matz allowed one unearned run and struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings. He yielded just two hits and walked none.
Matz dueled with Chicago righty Lucas Giolito, who allowed only two hits, both to Contreras, and two runs in seven innings.
Elvis Andrus drove in Chicago’s first run with a single.
Matz made 10 starts to begin this season, going 0-6 with a 5.72 ERA, before moving to the bullpen. He was 0-1 with a 2.81 ERA as a reliever and his longest outing was 3 1/3 innings. Matz struck out six of the first 10 hitters he faced, but the White Sox pushed across an unearned run in the third to take a 1-0 lead.
Oscar Colas reached when first baseman Paul Goldschmidt flubbed his chopper. Colas advanced to second on a passed ball, then third when Contreras' throw to second sailed into center field.
Colas scored on Andrus’ single to left, the first hit of the game.
Contreras drilled his 10th homer to the back of the left-field bullpen for the first hit off Giolito and a 2-1 St. Louis lead in the fourth.
The White Sox tied it at 2 in the seventh. Gorman couldn’t come up with pinch hitter Carlos Perez’s bouncer and the error allowed Robert Jr. to score.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: LHP Jordan Montgomery (right hamstring) will be checked by a doctor on Sunday night, giving the team a clearer timeline for his return. Montgomery abruptly left Friday night’s series opener in the fifth inning after he slipped on the mound. ... INF/OF Brendan Donovan (sore throwing arm), restricted to DH since late June, is expected to start throwing during the All-Star break. ... OF Tyler O’Neill (lower left back strain) went 0-for-2 with two walks as DH in his fourth rehab appearance with Triple-A Memphis on Saturday night.
White Sox: OF Andrew Benintendi sat out a second straight game with a right wrist injury.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals host Washington starting Friday.
The White Sox open a three-game series at nine-game trip at Atlanta on Friday.
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