In the St. Louis Cardinals’ dugout, pitching coach Derek Lilliquist turned to manager Mike Matheny, unworried as center fielder Peter Bourjos sped to the wall. San Francisco put runners on first and third with one out in the third when Kelby Tomlinson walked and went to third on Heston’s hit-and-run single.
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“I really thought this homestand was critical for us, coming off a road trip where you get swept in a four-game series”, manager Bruce Bochy said. He worked seven innings, allowing six hits and a run with one walk and six strikeouts.
Wacha will face the Giants for the first time since giving up Travis Ishikawa’s pennant-clinching homer in the ninth inning in Game 5.
St. Louis took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when catcher Yadier Molina yanked a 403-foot homer into the third deck in left field before the Giants equalized in the sixth when Crawford laced a two-out RBI double off starter Michael Wacha. In fact, starting with his start against Colorado on July 31, Wacha has surrendered just two runs in his last three starts, over 20 innings.
The Giants completed a four-game sweep of the Nationals with a 5-0 win at home yesterday. The Giants’ standout stepped on second for the force, planted and threw to first, but the throw sailed wide, allowing Piscotty to score what proved to be the winning run.
Crawford had some trouble getting a grip on “a ball that wasn’t hit hard enough or soft enough that I could come home”.
Bochy said if Crawford made an accurate throw, he’d have completed the double play.
San Francisco will next embark on a seven-game road trip against teams with the NL’s best two records, St. Louis (75-42) and Pittsburgh (69-46).
“The throw just got away from him, pretty simple”. Wacha’s 14 wins lead the National League, and the youngster has been tagged with just for losses. Piscotty is 6 for 10 in the past three games, scoring five runs.
In its first matchup with St. Louis since the NLCS, San Francisco has the added challenge of taking on a team that’s produced one of its best home records in franchise history (44-18). The game is crucial for the Giants, who trail the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West by 2 and a half games with 45 left on the schedule.
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Cardinals: Jason Heyward made his first start of the year in CF, but was taken out after two innings due to left hamstring tightness.
