St. Louis Cardinals Jhonny Peralta slides safely past Boston Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez in the first inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on August 7, 2014. Peralta scored from second base on a hit by Oscar Taveras. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Adam Wainwright got through a shaky start to earn his 14th win, tying for the major league lead, and rookie Kolten Wong homered twice as the Cardinals finished off the Red Sox by winning the rubber game of the series in a 5-2 final. Things started slow, but finished strong for Waino, who needed 66 pitches to get through the first three innings after the start was delayed by rain for more than an hour for the second straight night.
Wainwright then retired 11 in a row before the seventh where he ran into trouble again. However, with the tying runs on base, Wainwright dropped a nasty curve past Yoenis Cespedes that just absolutely froze him for a called strike three.
Jhonny Peralta’s two-run double sparked a three-run first off Sox starter Brandon Workman and Wong had his first multi-homer game. Wong hit his eighth of the year off Workman in the fifth and then went deep again in the seventh giving the Cardinals the three-run cushion.
The Cardinals remain a game behind Milwaukee as Wily Peralta also won his 14th game of the year. The Cardinals hold a half game lead over Pittsburgh for a Wild Card spot in the National League.
