CHICAGO -- Yadier Molina had a simple goal for his ninth-inning at-bat with the bases loaded and the score tied on Sunday. "I was looking not to strike out," he said. After fouling off some tough two-strike pitches, Molina hit a ground-ball single up the middle to drive in two runs and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped out of an offensive funk with a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. "I got a little lucky that they were playing me to pull," Molina said. "It was a good at-bat. I was able to put the ball in play and good things happened." The defending National League champions had lost four of five to fall a game below .500. The Cardinals scored all their runs with two outs. Molina, moved into the No. 2 spot to jump start the lineup, was 0 for 4 before coming through in the ninth. But it was a wild pitch in the seventh inning that allowed the Cubs to tie the score at 3 that had Molina more frustrated. The pitch from reliever Carlos Martinez was in the dirt and trickled through Molinas legs, allowing Luis Valbuena to score. "I was there," Molina said. "I dont know. Its one of those things. I was ready for it and the ball still goes through my legs." Kevin Siegrist (1-1) got the win in relief, while Trevor Rosenthal picked up his eighth save in as many opportunities despite a scare in the ninth inning. Hector Randon (0-1) took the loss for the Cubs, who were attempting to win four straight games for the first time since July. While Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had looked for Molina, one of his hottest hitters, to get the offence going, it was a couple of struggling batters at the bottom of the lineup that got things started early. With two outs in the second inning and Jhonny Peralta on first base, Randal Grichuk drilled a triple into the right-centre field gap for a 1-0 lead. Mark Ellis, who went 3 for 4, followed with a double to left-centre to make it 2-0. Both Grichuk (.167) and Ellis (.143) entered hitting well below .200. St. Louis stretched the lead to 3-0 in the third as Matt Adams doubled home Matt Holiday. The Cubs pulled within 3-2 in the fourth with some clutch two-out hitting. With one out, Ryan Kalish singled and John Baker walked. After a groundout moved the runners to second and third, Cubs starter Jason Hammel singled to right to drive in both. Molinas go-ahead single to centre came on the sixth pitch of the at-bat from Randon. "I thought I made a good pitch today, but something happened," Randon said. Molina seemed more relieved that the wild pitch wasnt a factor than he drove in the game-deciding runs. "(Molina) does a good job of not wearing his emotions and how frustrating that is for him," Matheny said. "Its hard to count the number of balls he keeps in front of him, the number of runs he saves. Its something we dont take for granted." Valbuena doubled in a run with two outs in the ninth to make it 5-4, but Rosenthal got Anthony Rizzo to ground out to end the game. "Guys kept grinding it out," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "We just fell a little short." NOTES: The ESPN broadcast team of Dan Shulman and John Kruk worked from the bleachers. ... While making a rehab start Sunday with Double A Springfield, LHP Jaime Garcia (shoulder) was hit by a pitch on the left elbow and left after two innings and 28 pitches. "I think they went in and took precautionary X-rays," Matheny said. "I havent heard anything back yet." ... In the same game, RHP Jason Motte threw a scoreless inning, striking out three, in his first rehab outing. ... Rizzo entered with a .429 on-base percentage, which was fifth-best in the National League. ... The Cards open a series in Atlanta on Monday, with RHP Shelby Miller (3-2) facing RHP Aaron Harang, while the Cubs host the crosstown White Sox with RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-3) going up against LHP Jose Quintana (1-2). Kobe Bryant Shoes From China . Perhaps as important, shes sending a message to 17-year-old gold medal favourite Sara Takanashi of Japan. Iraschko-Stolz relegated Takanashi, who has 10 World Cup victories this season, to second place in two of three training jumps Saturday. Kobe Bryant Shoes Deals . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. https://www.cheapkobebryantshoes.com/. Wade is posting a short film on his website next week, with a sneak preview scheduled to come out Wednesday. Kobe Bryant Shoes Free Shipping . Kadri was dressed in a green jersey at Thursdays practice and skated as an extra forward on the teams fourth line as the Leafs. Kobe Bryant Shoes For Sale . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.LONDON - Former champion Maria Sharapova saved six match points before falling to Angelique Kerber in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Tuesday, ending her bid to win a second title at the All England Club a decade after her first. Five-time champion Serena Williams, meanwhile, struggled to even hit the ball over the net in a doubles match with sister Venus and pulled out after only three games with what officials called a viral illness. Sharapova, a five-time major champion, saved one match point at 5-2 down in the third set and five more in the final game before hitting a backhand long on the seventh. That gave the ninth-seeded Kerber a stirring 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 win on Centre Court in a match that lasted 2 hours, 37 minutes. "Its unbelievable," said the German, a semifinalist two years ago. "It was so tough (a) match. Every single set was so close. Marias a great player. I was just fighting, concentrating and focusing on myself. Im so happy to be in the quarters now." Kerber will next face 20-year-old Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard, the only woman to reach the semifinals this year at both the Australian Open and French Open. Bouchard beat Kerber in the fourth round at the French. Sharapova, who won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 17, was coming off her latest major championship at the French Open last month. "Its absolutely normal for people to have high expectations of me doing well in Grand Slam stages," Sharapova said. "I certainly do, as well. Today could have gone either way, and it didnt go my way." On a day when seven-time mens champion Roger Federer sailed into the quarterfinals, Serena was out of sorts from the moment the pre-match warmup began. She had trouble collecting tennis balls from the ball kids and missed completely on some practice strokes. The start of the second-round doubles against Kristina Barrois and Stefanie Voegele was put off for about 10 minutes while Serena sat in her chair and was examined by medical staff. In the third game, Serena hit four double-faults. She hit serves that bounced before reaching the net. Umpire Kader Nouni climbed down from his chair and walked over to speak to Serena. Thee sisters walked to the sideline holding hands, and the match was stopped.dddddddddddd Serena wiped away tears as she left the court. The Wimbledon referees office and WTA said Serena had a viral illness. She left the grounds a few hours later in a tournament car with Venus. While Sharapova sought to dictate play with her big-swinging groundstrokes, Kerber played counter-attacking tennis and went for her shots when the opportunities came. The match featured high tension and intensity. Sharapovas shrieks grew louder and louder as the match wore on. Kerber went up 4-1 and saved two break points to lead 5-2 in the final set. She held a match point on Sharapovas serve, but the Russian hit a deep backhand that she couldnt handle. With Kerber serving for the match in the next game, Sharapova broke for 5-4. Then Kerber went up 0-40 on Sharapovas serve, but the Russian erased those three match points. Two more came and went. Sharapova twice earned game points but couldnt convert. Finally, on the sixth match point of the game, it ended with Sharapovas backhand error. Federer kept up his bid for a record eighth Wimbledon title by beating Tommy Robredo to reach the quarterfinals for the 12th time. Federer, who has not dropped a set in the tournament, overwhelmed the Spaniard 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 in just over 90 minutes. "All the things are happening that need to be happening to go deep in this tournament again," he said. Federers win set up an all-Swiss duel with Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-3 to make it to the quarterfinals for the first time. Eighth-seeded Milos Raonic became the first Canadian man to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Robert Powell in 1912, beating No. 10 Kei Nishikori of Japan 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) 6-3. The first woman into the semifinals was No. 23 Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, who beat Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, 6-3 6-1. French Open runner-up Simona Halep breezed into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan. Her next opponent will be 2013 finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany, who overcame shoulder trouble to defeat Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. ___ ' ' '