ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina leads the National League in batting and has put himself in the early discussion for MVP honours, at least in the eyes of St. Louis right-hander Jake Westbrook. Molina hit his fifth home run and Westbrook pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. Molina said the blast was somewhat of a surprise to him. "Sometimes you get lucky," he said. "That was lucky." Westbrook (3-2) worked around trouble almost the entire night in his second start since coming off the disabled list with a sore elbow. He gave up no earned runs, striking out two and walking three. Edward Mujica pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 21st save in 21 attempts. Westbrook said if he voted for MVP, his battery mate would get the nod. "With the way hes been hitting, but more importantly the way hes handled us as a staff and the way weve been pitching," Westbrook said. "He, in my mind, is the reason for that." Molina is hitting .365 and is pulling away from the field. Colorados Troy Tulowitzki, who is on the disabled list, is second at .347. Molina is just outside of the top 10 in RBIs (41). Hes also guides a Cardinals pitching staff that has the major leagues second-best ERA (3.28). Edwin Jackson (3-9) was pulled after he hit Jon Jay following Molinas blast to left field. He pitched 5 1-3 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits. He struck out one and walked two. He was going for his third consecutive victory and was pleased with his performance. He wasnt even unhappy with the ball that Molina homered on. "I thought it was a pretty good pitch, but either he was looking for it or he guessed right or it was right in his zone," Jackson said. "Either way, he hit it for a home run. But I threw my pitch with conviction and it was the pitch I wanted to throw. Sometimes it happens in a game." Allen Craig reached in the fifth after second basemans Darwin Barneys throw on the back end of a double-play attempt went to the Cardinals dugout. Molina drove a 1-2 pitch just over the outfield wall to improve to 9 for 15 with three homers against Jackson. Jay went to third on a hit-and-run with Daniel Descalso singling to right and scored on a hit from Pete Kozma to give St. Louis a 4-1 lead. Westbrook retired the Cubs in order in the first and seventh innings, allowing at least one runner to reach in the five innings between. He faced the minimum in three of those five innings. Two runners were erased on inning-ending double plays and Luis Valbuena was caught stealing on a pitch out for the first out of the third. "He was good," Molina said of Westbrook. "That sinker was moving a lot." Westbrook lasted just five innings in his return Friday at Miami. He gave up five runs (three earned) on eight hits in a loss. "I felt good," Westbrook said. "I was throwing a really good sinker, tonight. I was locating it a lot better than the last start." Anthony Rizzo opened the second with a single and went to third when second baseman Matt Carpenters throw to start a potential double play sailed over the Kozmas head and into leftfield. Rizzo tagged up on a sacrifice fly from Barney and scored after knocking the ball out of Molinas glove. Carpenter singled to start the first and scored on Craigs hit to centre. NOTES: The Cardinals earned at least a split of the four-game series. ... Jacksons exit with one out in the fifth snapped a five-game streak in which the Cubs rotation recorded a quality start and a seven-game stretch in which it went at least six innings. ... Craig is hitting .431 with runners in scoring position. ... Rizzos single in the second ended a 0-10 streak. ... Molina was assessed with his third error of the year for dropping the ball in the second and allowing Ryan Sweeney and Welington Castillo to advance. He had three all of last season. ... Major League Baseball made two scoring changes from the Cardinals game June 11 at the New York Mets. It rewarded Molina a double rather than an error as originally scored and changed an error assessed to 3B David Freese to a hit for David Wright. Asics Wholesale Uk . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). Asics Factory Outlet Uk . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. http://www.wholesaleasicsuk.com/ . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. Asics Shoes Uk Free Shipping . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. Asics Shoes Uk Cheap . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Pep Guardiola has questions to answer at Manchester City.It was a dream start at City for the coach regarded by many as the best in the world. Ten competitive games; 10 wins; a runaway Premier League win seemingly in the bag. But thats not how the game works and -- fast forward a little over two months -- there are now big question marks over the Manchester clubs title credentials.They will try to bounce back from another disheartening setback when hosting Watford on Wednesday night at the Etihad.Man City (9-3-3) have won just four of their last 15 matches in all competitions and been hit for seven goals over the course of their last two league fixtures. Saturdays 4-2 loss to Leicester City raised doubts over Citys ability to cope with the physical demands of English football.I am not a coach for the tackles, a prickly Guardiola said after the defeat. I dont train for tackles. What I want is to try to play well and score goals.What are tackles? You have to win the duels -- that is true. But normally when you play well you win tackles, but after four minutes, at 2-0, the mind of the players is: What is going on? What happened?It is another aspect of football, but in the end we are not going to win or lose because of the tackles.The remarks are Guardiola being consciously obtuse, almost toying with the real football men scattered across the English media. But the critics of his style would point to the fact that his team had just been dismantled by Leicester as a good example of why his team do indeed need to discover some backbone to go along with the tactical flexibility and pretty build-up play.Wednesdays game against Watford (6-3-6) should be just the chance that City need to show that theyve got the mentality requiredd to catch league leaders Chelsea -- who are currently seven points ahead heading into the midweek matches.ddddddddddddWalter Mazzarris Watford have struggled for consistency away from home and allowed nine goals in their last two league matches on the road -- a worrying defensive record ahead of a meeting with free-scoring City.But Watford are no pushovers, as shown by the weekends 3-2 home win over Everton. The Hornets will have taken hope from Citys capitulation against Leicester.I saw the game against Leicester, Mazzarri said. I was surprised, but in Italy we have a saying: Each game has its own story.That result wont help us. We will find Manchester City very angry and concentrated, we wont have the luck that they will underestimate us.Angry and concentrated they may be, but the Citizens will be missing both club captain Vincent Kompany due to injury and talismanic striker Sergio Aguero due to suspension.Watford have a number of injury concerns, and Mazzarri has admitted that he is concerned over the fitness of a number of those who started against Everton at the weekend.After such an intense game like the one against Everton, where we spent a lot physically and mentally, its hard for me to decide on the team that will take part in the game against Manchester City, the Watford boss said.Some of the players have trained since individually, some trained with the whole team. In order to make a decision we will assess them (Tuesday) or the day after.Adrian Mariappa is certainly unavailable due to a knee injury, but Craig Cathcart, Younes Kaboul and Valon Behrami will face late fitness tests. ' ' '