CHICAGO -- Matt Holliday smiled when he said he's been in this situation before.

So the St. Louis designated hitter knew just how to approach the bases-loaded situation in the fourth inning of Tuesday's 8-5 Cardinals victory over the Chicago White Sox.

"In that situation you want to be aggressive," said Holliday, whose first-pitch shot off White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon was his sixth career grand slam. "He's got a chance to strike you out if you don't get him early in the count. ... I got it pretty good.

Holliday's homer opened a 7-0 lead and the Cardinals (59-34) needed the extra runs after the White Sox closed the gap with five runs over the next two innings.

Cardinals right hander Michael Wacha collected his 11th win in a five-inning outing as the Cardinals captured their third victory in four games.

"I felt really good through the first three," said Wacha. "Then (I) just left some balls up in the zone, lost control of fastball command and didn't miss the mistakes in the last couple of innings I was out there."

Right-hander Trevor Rosenthal, the fifth Cardinals pitcher, gave up two hits in the ninth but locked down the win when Jose Abreu, representing the potential tying run, grounded out to third to end the game. Rosenthal earned his 28th save.

Rodon (3-3) took the loss after working just four innings. Wacha (11-3) departed after five innings in favor of right-handed reliever Seth Maness.

Wacha threw 100 pitches and allowed five earned runs on four hits, walked two and struck out eight. His 11 wins are tied for second most in the National League with the Cubs' Jake Arrieta.

The White Sox (42-49) suffered their third straight loss and fifth in six games.

"Any time you get in a little bit of a rut it's disappointing," said Chicago manager Robin Ventura. "I thought we were playing well right before the break. We had the doubleheader right back out of it. We won one of those -- split it. We had the other extra-inning game that you don't win. It's frustrating when it starts going the other way but these guys continue to play hard and grind. "

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter's one-out RBI single in the second scored shortstop Jhonny Peralta from third for a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis made it 3-0 with two runs in the third. Catcher Yadier Molina's two-out single to right brought home Holliday and right fielder Jason Heyward.

The Cardinals loaded the bases in the fourth and made it 7-0 with Holliday's first pitch-hit grand slam to left with one out.

Chicago got its first baserunner in the fourth. Center fielder Adam Eaton led off with a walk, third baseman Tyler Saladino singled to left and first baseman Jose Abreu's drove in Eaton with a base hit to right with none out.

Left fielder Melky Cabrera's sacrifice to left drove in Saladino to make it 7-2.

Rodon did not return for the fifth. He gave up seven runs on seven hits, struck out six and walked three.

"I felt comfortable coming out of the warmup and started off the game pretty good, but it just didn't work out," said Rodon, who felt the outing slip away early. "You could just see the inconsistency in between pitches. It's tough trying to make an adjustment. ... It's something I've got to get better at."

Mark Reynolds made it 8-2 in the fifth when greeted right-handed reliever Daniel Webb with a one-out solo home run to left.

The White Sox cut the deficit to 8-5 in the fourth on home runs by catcher Geovany Soto, his sixth of the season, and Saladino, who also scored Eaton, who previously walked.

?NOTES: The Cardinals called up OF/1B Stephen Piscotty from Triple-A Memphis and inserted him into Tuesday's lineup for his big league debut and went 1-for-4 with a run scored. He hit ninth against the White Sox. St. Louis optioned OF Tommy Pham to Memphis. In addition, Memphis INF Ty Kelly was designated for assignment. ... The Cardinals play two road games against the White Sox, then return home to play a rainout game from June 14 against the Royals. ... St. Louis sends RHP Lance Lynn (7-5, 2.79 ERA) against Chicago LHP John Danks (5-8, 4.98 ERA) on Wednesday. ... RHP Nate Jones has been transferred to Triple-A Charlotte as part of his injury rehabilitation work. He's on the 60-day disabled list recovering from Tommy John surgery performed on July 29, 2014. ... Following the two-game St. Louis series, Chicago embarks on an eight-game road trip to Cleveland and Boston before returning home for three games against the Yankees beginning July 31.