ST. LOUIS — What began as a light sprinkle turned into a downpour as Chicago White Sox reliever John Brebbia faced Masyn Winn.
The Sox led by a run in the bottom of the 10th, but the St. Louis Cardinals had the bases loaded and one out. As fans scrambled for cover at Busch Stadium, Brebbia tried to keep his hand and the ball as dry as possible to execute his pitches.
Brebbia struck out Winn, then got within two strikes of wrapping up the game when the next batter, Nolan Gorman, fouled off the first pitch. Brebbia approached plate umpire CB Bucknor for a ball as crew chief Dan Iassogna pulled everyone off the field, signaling the start of a rain delay.
The game resumed after a 3-hour, 3-minute delay with Tanner Banks in relief for the Sox against pinch hitter Iván Herrera. Banks got the strikeout looking to complete a 6-5 Sox victory in front of a small portion of the announced crowd of 38,559.
The Sox snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 2-14 on the road. They are 7-26 overall.
The day began with an intriguing pitching matchup of Erick Fedde versus former Sox hurler Lance Lynn. Fedde had allowed just three earned runs over 20 innings during his three previous starts, while Lynn had a 2.64 ERA in his first six starts.
Fedde struggled with command, allowing five runs on four hits with two strikeouts and five walks in 4⅓ innings. Lynn allowed four earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks in five-plus innings.
Korey Lee’s two-out, two-run single against Cardinals reliever Andrew Kittredge in the sixth tied the score at 5. Tommy Pham drove in a run with a single in the 10th, giving the Sox a 6-5 lead.
Paul Goldschmidt began the bottom of the 10th as the automatic runner on second and advanced to third on a single by Nolan Arenado.
Alec Burleson hit a grounder to third and Goldschmidt began heading for home. Bryan Ramos immediately made a wide and low throw to the plate, and Goldschmidt returned to third safely to load the bases with no outs.
Brebbia struck out Lars Nootbaar and Winn, then got ahead of Gorman before the delay.
Banks threw four pitches after the long wait to collect the save and end the marathon afternoon.
Sox reliever Dominic Leone exited with lower back tightness after walking Arenado to begin the eighth. The Sox said the right-hander is day to day.
