ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — The St. Louis Cardinals returned home from a three-city road trip Friday night and defeated the Chicago White Sox 7-3 at Busch Stadium III, riding three-hit, multi-RBI games from Joshua Báez and Leo Bernal to a victory that followed an on-field celebration of the 2006 World Series champions and a 70-minute weather delay. The delay came while the teams waited for a storm that never arrived. Dark clouds lingered, but the game was played in full before 30,274 fans in 2 hours, 53 minutes. St. Louis improved to 73-75, while Chicago fell to 75-72.

Chicago opened the scoring in the first inning when Chase Meidroth homered to center field. Randal Grichuk followed with a double to right, but the White Sox could not add another run in the inning. St. Louis answered in the bottom half. Iván Herrera was hit by a pitch, Jordan Walker flew out to left, and Alec Burleson doubled to right field to score Herrera. Báez struck out looking to end the inning with the score tied.

The Cardinals moved ahead in the second. Bernal doubled to center, Thomas Saggese singled to center to put runners on the corners, and Masyn Winn grounded into a force out that allowed Bernal to score. Nathan Church walked to keep the inning alive, but José Fermín popped out under the infield fly rule and Herrera flew out to center. St. Louis led after two innings.

Meidroth tied the game again in the third with his second home run, this one to left-center field. Grichuk flew out to left, Miguel Vargas singled to left, Colson Montgomery flew out to left, and Edgar Quero grounded into a force out. In the bottom of the third, Walker singled to center and moved to second on Burleson’s groundout. Báez then singled to center to score Walker, giving St. Louis the lead for good. Bernal grounded out and Saggese lined out to right to end the inning.

Chicago threatened in the fourth when Brenton Doyle singled and Jake Rogers walked, but Luisangel Acuña grounded into a force out and the inning ended without a run. St. Louis went down in order in the bottom of the fourth on a strikeout, a groundout and a lineout.

The Cardinals broke the game open in the fifth. Walker doubled to left, Burleson singled to center to score Walker, and Báez doubled off the left-field wall to score Burleson. Bernal followed with a single to left that scored Báez. Saggese flew out to right and Winn flew out to center, but the three-run rally gave St. Louis a 6-2 lead and chased the game’s early tension.

Chicago put together a scoring chance in the sixth. Sam Antonacci singled, Kyle Teel singled, and Meidroth walked to load the bases with one out. Randal Grichuk struck out swinging and Miguel Vargas flew out sharply to center, leaving the bases full. St. Louis then turned a double play in the bottom of the sixth when Walker grounded into a shortstop-to-second-to-first double play after Church walked and Fermín singled. The double play ended the inning but also led to Walker leaving the game in the top of the eighth after an awkward attempt to run it out.

The Cardinals added their final run in the seventh. Báez doubled to left, with the umpires reviewing whether the ball was a home run and upholding the call on the field as a double. Bernal singled to left to score Báez. Saggese then grounded into a double play, but the run had already crossed and St. Louis led 7-2.

Chicago scored its final run in the eighth. Antonacci was hit by a pitch, Teel singled to right to put runners on the corners, and Meidroth struck out on a foul tip. Munetaka Murakami grounded into a force out that scored Antonacci, and Vargas grounded out softly to end the inning. The White Sox went down in order in the ninth on a strikeout, a flyout and a groundout.

Meidroth finished 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBIs. He was Chicago’s most productive hitter and accounted for both of the White Sox’s home runs. The White Sox totaled nine hits but stranded several runners. Anthony Kay, who fell to 9-9, took the loss after allowing three earned runs on five hits over four innings with two strikeouts. Tyler Schweitzer pitched two innings of relief, giving up one earned run on three hits with one strikeout.

St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Gordon Graceffo, who improved to 8-1, earned the win in relief by retiring both batters he faced over two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout. Riley O’Brien and Ryne Stanek each pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout. The Cardinals finished with 13 hits and grounded into two double plays.

Báez had three hits and two RBIs, driving two hard-hit doubles off the left-field wall that came close to leaving the park. Burleson added two hits and two RBIs. Bernal also had three hits and two RBIs in his first career game at his home ballpark. It was his fifth multi-RBI game in his first 10 major league games. His 12 RBIs are the most by a Cardinals player in his first 10 career games since RBI became an official statistic in 1920.

The win continued a promising stretch for St. Louis’ younger hitters as the club plays out the final weeks of the season. The Cardinals had returned from a three-city trip with 15 games left on the schedule and roughly two and a half weeks to get last looks at players they hope will be major offensive contributors in future years. Chicago, meanwhile, remains above .500 despite the loss. The teams continue their series Saturday at Busch Stadium III, with another game Sunday before Chicago travels to Cleveland and St. Louis hosts San Francisco.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 4, Chicago 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected St. Louis with a 54.3 percent probability to win. Chicago had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 10 went under the over/under line of 8.5.