ST. LOUIS -- There was so much stopping and starting at Busch Stadium Wednesday night that it might have resembled nearby I-64 at rush hour rather than a ballpark being pelted with one rain cell after another.

Through the 2 hours, 19 minutes eaten up by three rain delays, Chicago White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana persevered and was rewarded with a win.

Working six solid innings, Quintana fanned eight and helped Chicago post a 7-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The White Sox became the first visitor to sweep a series against the majors' top team this season, winning two in a row at Busch.

"Q did a good job of sticking with it," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "He did a good job of staying loose. It's easy to get frustrated when you're always the one being delayed, but he withstood it."

After a 1:49 delay before the first pitch, Quintana took the mound for the bottom of the first inning and threw two balls to second baseman Kolten Wong before a heavy shower forced a 14-minute stoppage.

Following Quintana's warmup pitches for the bottom of the second, crew chief Gary Cederstrom waved the grounds crew on the field again, this time causing a 16-minute delay before Quintana started the inning.

"It was hard, of course," the pitcher said. "Every time I came back, it happened again. I tried to come back with my best stuff every time."

Quintana wound up allowing one run on six hits and no walks. He seemed to get better as the game progressed, mixing a low 90s fastball with enough off-speed stuff to keep St. Louis off stride. He picked up a strikeout in every inning, saving his best work for a crisis in the sixth.

After center fielder Adam Eaton slipped in the wet grass and turned a single by Mark Reynolds into a triple, the Cardinals had the tying run 90 feet away with one out. However, Quintana whiffed left fielder Randal Grichuk with a high fastball and then induced an inning-ending flyout from catcher Yadier Molina.

"They have a very good lineup," Quintana said of the Cardinals. "They are the best team, so this is good for us."

The White Sox (34-42) won for just the sixth time in 19 games, snapping a 1-1 tie in the sixth on left fielder Melky Cabrera's third homer of the year. They ended the game's competitive phase in the ninth with a five-run rally, fueled by a long two-run homer from catcher Tyler Flowers.

It was the first time in 74 innings that the Cardinals (51-26) allowed more than one run in an inning, dating back to the first inning of a 4-3 win June 23 in Miami.

"The ninth was just ugly, that's all there is to it," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "We didn't have a lot of opportunities the last couple of nights."

Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta knocked in a run with a double in the first, but that was it offensively as St. Louis fell to 29-9 at home and 7-11 in games when they faced a left-handed starter.

St. Louis right-hander John Lackey (6-5) worked seven innings in a losing cause, giving up seven hits and two runs while walking two and fanning six.

Meanwhile, Chicago savored a sweep of a team that entered the series on pace to win 109 games.

"It's nice to come in here and beat a team like this," Ventura said. "There's some optimistic stuff going on."

NOTES: St. Louis LHP Jaime Garcia (groin cramp) won't be able to start Thursday night's game against the San Diego Padres, although manager Mike Matheny hopes Garcia can take a turn next week against the Chicago Cubs and avoid a stint on the disabled list. ... Chicago activated LHP Dan Jennings (neck) from a rehab stint and optioned RHP Junior Guerra to Triple-A Charlotte. ... The Cardinals will call up LHP Tim Cooney from Triple-A Memphis to start Thursday night. Cooney started April 30 against the Philadelphia Phillies but lasted only 2 1/3 innings in St. Louis' 9-3 win.