Matt Carpenter led off the ninth inning with a home run for the Cardinals, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Marcell Ozuna doubled and scored the winning run on Molina's drive that bounced off the left field wall.

St. Louis trailed 2-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth against White Sox closer Joakim Soria (0-1). Carpenter erased the deficit with a blast to right-center field for his third home run of the season and the 100th of his career.

Soria remained in the game, but a mound visit did little to slow the Cardinals' surge. Teammates sprinted from the dugout to swarm Molina after his game-winning hit.

Yoan Moncada finished 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for the White Sox, who have dropped three straight.

The loss spoiled a strong outing by White Sox starter James Shields, who allowed one run on two hits in six innings.

Cardinals reliever Bud Norris (1-0) earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief.

The Cardinals jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to a leadoff home run by Tommy Pham. He drove a full-count fastball deep into the left field bleachers for his fourth home run.

The White Sox answered with a pair of runs in the fourth to grab a 2-1 advantage. After Trayce Thompson and Adam Engel each drew a walk, Moncada drilled a two-out double to left-center field to score both.

Shields preserved Chicago's narrow lead as he retired 15 consecutive batters between the second and sixth innings. Kolten Wong finally ended the streak with an infield single in the sixth, but White Sox catcher Welington Castillo promptly threw him out at second base on a stolen base attempt.

The contest marked a milestone for Mike Matheny, who became the fourth skipper in Cardinals history to manage in 1,000 games. The other three are Tony La Russa (2,591), Red Schoendienst (1,999) and Whitey Herzog (1,553).

--Field Level Media