Hitting Coach Mark McGwire gives Jason Motte’s beard a little scratch!

The Cardinals are now up 2 games to 1 in the NLCS after defeating the Giants Wednesday 3-1.

Kyle Lohse pitched an excellent 5.2 innings. He gave up seven hits, five walks and one earned run. He also struck out two. Trevor Rosenthal finished out the sixth inning. Edward Mujica and Mitchell Boggs combined to work the seventh inning before the game was delayed for a few hours due to rain.

Jason Motte pitched the eighth and ninth innings to earn the save.

Matt Carpenter entered the game in the second inning when Carlos Beltran left the game due to an injury to his knee. Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal reported that Beltran was OK and that he could play again tomorrow, but the Cardinals wouldn’t know for certain until tomorrow.

Carpenter’s parents made the drive to St. Louis for Wednesday’s game. And was it ever worth it for them! With Jon Jay on base, Matty Carp launched a homer to right center.

In the seventh inning, with the bases loaded, Shane Robinson hit into a ground out that scored David Freese. It was 3-1 and that was all the Cardinals would need!

Game 4 starts at 7 p.m. Thursday and will feature Adam Wainwright pitching against Tim Lincecum.

Go Cardinals!

Miranda Remaklus is lead contributor to Aaron Miles’ Fastabll. She’s also lead writer at Aerys Offsides. Follow her on Twitter, @missmiranda.