Edman’s Two-Homer Day Leads Cardinals to 4-0 Win over Sox

After dropping the first two games of their series at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Cardinals responded with a 4-0 win over the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon. With the win, the Cardinals are now 27-22, hopeful this win will snap their recent skid.

White Sox starter Carlos Rodon struck out four Cardinals through the first two innings before Tommy Edman broke the scoreless tie with two outs in the top of the third. Edman, on a 1-1 count, lined a homer to left field — his third long ball of the season and first since April 19th.

The Cardinals held on to their 1-0 lead, despite getting just one hit (the Edman homer) off Rodon through the lefty’s six-inning performance. Rodon whiffed 10 Cardinals in the outing. On the other side, St. Louis starter John Gant turned in five scoreless innings. Genesis Cabrera entered in the sixth and finished that frame and got one out in the seventh before Giovanny Gallegos was called upon with two runners on.

While Gallegos was getting ready to work in what was one of the biggest spots in the game, umpire Joe West walked to the mound and examined Gallegos’s hat. The hat looked to have a dark substance on it, and West made Gallegos change hats, and his former one was sent off for evaluation.

Meanwhile, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt was obviously not happy with what happened between Joe West and Gallegos. Almost immediately after coming out to argue, Shildt was ejected from the game. It didn’t seem to faze Gallegos, however; he got Jose Abreu and Yermin Merecedes, both, to strike out swinging and end Chicago’s seventh-inning threat.

With two outs in the top of the eighth facing Aaron Bummer, Edman hit his second homer of the day. Another solo shot from Edman gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Gallegos pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, just ahead of St. Louis’s insurance runs in the ninth. White Sox reliever Jose Ruiz got the ninth-inning assignment and was greeted with three consecutive hits: a single from Paul Goldschmidt, a double from Nolan Arenado, and a single from Edmundo Sosa that plated Goldy and Nado to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead. Andrew Knizner drew a walk, but the bottom-third of the lineup (Lane Thomas, Max Moroff, and Justin Thomas) failed to keep the rally rolling.

The Cardinals went with Alex Reyes for the ninth, even though it was not a save situation. Nick Madrigal singled with one out and eventually made it to third with two outs, on defensive indifference and a wild pitch. Yoan Moncada walked, but Reyes was able to fan Abreu to seal the deal on a 4-0 St. Louis win.

The trio of Thomas, Moroff, and Thomas were a combined 0-for-12 on Wednesday afternoon with nine strikeouts. Over on the Chicago side, Madrigal went 3-for-4 — his second three-hit game in as many days — to up his average over .300. The White Sox went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners on base.

The Cardinals will head west to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks for four games starting Thursday evening. Carlos Martinez will get the call in the series opener tomorrow, in an 8:40 PM start at Chase Field. The White Sox will stay home and welcome the Orioles to town for four games, also starting tomorrow evening.