CHICAGO — Paul DeJong’s second hit of the day, an RBI double rifled into the left-field corner, drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and it proved the difference as the Cardinals escaped the Windy City with a one-run win and a series victory against the White Sox on Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinals scored in the ninth and 10th innings to scratch out the win on a day when their defense let them down and it looked like they might squander a strong starting pitcher performance from Steven Matz in his return to the rotation.

Instead, they held on for a 4-3 win over the White Sox in the final game before the MLB All-Star break and the series finale of the three-game set at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Cardinals (38-52) won the game and the series on a day when their defense allowed three unearned runs.

DeJong drove in the winning run and reliever JoJo Romero pitched the last two innings to earn his first career win.

Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras, who had missed the first two games of the series after having his wisdom teeth taken out, went 2 for 2 with a home run and recorded the 400th and 401st RBIs of his career in the game.

However, Contreras was also charged with a pair of passed balls that contributed to White Sox runs.

The Cardinals trailed by a run entering the ninth inning but loaded the bases on Lars Nootbaar’s double, Nolan Arenado’s walk and Contreras’ hit by pitch. Alec Burleson’s ground ball to second resulted in a force out, but the White Sox could not turn a double play and the tying run scored to set the stage for an extra frame.

Trouble with two outs

Dakota Hudson gave up a leadoff double in the seventh inning but recorded back-to-back strikeouts to get the Cardinals within a run of escaping the inning with their slim 2-1 lead intact.

However, Hudson didn’t make it to the end of the inning. He gave up a squib single toward third to Jake Burger to put runners on first and third with two outs.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol called upon left-handed reliever Genesis Cabrera, who walked pinch hitter Yasmani Grandal and loaded the bases. Pinch hitter Carlos Perez then hit what could have been an inning-ending ground ball to third baseman Nolan Gorman.

Gorman needed only to field the bouncer and step on third base to end the inning, but he misplayed the ball and the White Sox scored the tying run on the fielding error.

Swing-and-miss Steven Four of Matz’s first five outs were recorded via strikeout, and he went on to record a season-high nine strikeouts in the game.

Matz recorded seven of his nine strikeouts with batters swing and missing on the third strike.

The left-hander pitched 5 1/3 innings and held the White Sox to one unearned run on two hits. He didn’t walk a batter.

The Cardinals went from June 5 through July 7 without a starting pitcher making it through an outing without walking a batter. After Mikolas’ stellar start on Saturday and Matz’s strong outing on Sunday, they went into the All-Star break with back-to-back outings without a walk by a starting pitcher.

Matz left the game with a runner on and one out in the sixth. Hudson entered in relief and stranded the runner.

Matz threw 75 pitches in his first start since May 24. He left in position to earn a win with the Cardinals holding a 2-1 lead. However, the White Sox tied the score in the seventh inning.

Defense let Matz down in the third The first White Sox hitter to reach base against Matz came via a fielding error and then advanced to third base with the help of two other defensive miscues that set up the game’s first run.

Oscar Colas’ sharply hit grounder took a hop and ate up first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to start the third inning. Matz hadn’t allowed a walk or a hit through the first two innings.

Colas then advanced to second base on passed ball charged against Contreras. However, Contreras tried to make a throw to second base to get Colas, and his throw veered into the outfield as Colas advanced to third base.

Elvis Andrus singled to left through a drawn-in infield and the White Sox’ first hit of the game also drove in the game’s first run.

Matz only allowed the one run in the inning. Through three innings, he’d allowed one unearned run on one hit, no walks and six strikeouts on 44 pitches.

Contreras clubs another in Chicago A half inning after his passed ball and throwing error helped the White Sox score their first run, Contreras put the Cardinals ahead by a run with his 10th home run of the season.

After Goldschmidt walked and got caught stealing, Arenado walked to put a runner on in front of Contreras.

White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito threw a 3-2 change-up after Contreras had fouled off a fastball. Contreras swatted the change-up 363 feet to left field for a two-run home run as he atoned for the defensive lapse.

While a member of the Chicago Cubs, Contreras had three multi-homer games against the White Sox. Several loud boos rang out around Guaranteed Rate Park as Contreras rounded the bases.