The San Francisco Giants found a way to win against the pesky St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
The San Francisco Giants’ recent success against the St. Louis Cardinals continued on Wednesday with a 6-5 win at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
With Wednesday’s victory, the Giants took the series from the Cardinals, which came after San Francisco swept St. Louis earlier in September. How did they find a way to get it done in extra innings on Wednesday?
Struggling for offense
Over a good portion of the game, offense was hard to come by for both teams.
After opening with two scoreless innings, the Giants got on the board in the top of the third thanks to the elite base running of Jonah Cox, who hit a single before stealing second base and, eventually, third base.
It is hard to believe that when Cox stole third, it only marked his 13th stolen bag of the season, given how aggressive he has been on the basepaths recently. After he got to third, Brett Harris grounded into a double play, but it was enough to get Cox across home plate and give San Francisco a 1-0 lead.
From then on, neither team found the scoreboard again until the seventh inning. Right-hander Anthony Molina, acquired by the Giants in the trade for Tyler Mahle on Aug. 2, got the starting nod and had a good outing.
Across 5.2 innings of work, Molina put together a shutout effort in which he struck out six batters and allowed only two hits and a walk. After Molina secured the first two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Philip Abner replaced him and struck out Alec Burleson to end the inning.
Battling for momentum
Quality pitching by Molina and Abner provided plenty of time for the Giants’ offense to figure things out, and eventually they did.
The top of the seventh inning opened with Andrew Knizner getting hit by a pitch, and Christian Koss later singled to put two men on. That gave Cox a chance to step up to the plate and contribute more than just his base-running skills, as he hit a two-RBI single to right field to give San Francisco a 3-0 lead.
The Giants were in the driver’s seat, but inadequate pitching by the bullpen gave the Cardinals’ offense life. In the bottom of the seventh, Carson Seymour took the mound for San Francisco, and he opened with a walk.
Seymour was able to secure two outs, but he missed a catch that allowed Thomas Saggese to reach. From there, Seymour allowed an RBI single and a walk before he was replaced by Trent Harris.
Harris did not alleviate the situation, as a wild pitch scored another run for St. Louis before the Giants’ defense finally got off the field. It was up to the offense to respond, and it did.
In the top of the eighth, Knizner hit an RBI single that provided San Francisco with a 4-2 lead, and it looked as if the Giants were going to carry it to the finish line. However, the Cardinals would not go away.
After San Francisco got through the bottom of the eighth unscathed, only three outs stood between it and victory. Giants manager Tony Vitello went to his bullpen again, this time calling on Dylan Smith to close the game.
Unfortunately for the Giants, Smith blew the save opportunity by giving up two runs that tied the game. If San Francisco wanted to win, it would now have to go to extra innings.
Finally sealing the deal
In the top of the 10th, Drew Gilbert launched a two-run home run to center field to put the Giants back on top once again.
With another two-run lead to work with, San Francisco’s defense just needed to get through three more batters. The deja vu scenario was certainly threatening, as the Cardinals put another run on the board before Giants right-hander Joel Kuhnel and the defense finally got the third out needed to win the game.
