By Jeremy Harness

The Giants haven’t exactly been known as a hitting team for the past few years, but they have bucked that trend lately, and it has paid dividends.

The Giants used that wave of momentum to move past the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a four-game weekend series, 6-5, at Busch Stadium Thursday night.

For much of the season, Pablo Sandoval was stuck in a funk at the plate without a real end in sight. In fact, during the first two months of the season, Sandoval’s batting average hovered just above .200, which isn’t exactly what you wish for when you’re in the final year of your contract, a situation that he happens to be in.

But boy, have times changed. He has slowly brought his average back up to a somewhat-respectabe .247, to the point that manager Bruce Bochy has moved him back up to the No. 3 spot in the lineup, right behind slugger Michael Morse.

Sandoval justified Bochy’s move by launching a solo homer into left-center in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at 3-3.

Meanwhile, Morse continues to make a serious case for becoming a National League All-Star this season. The big outfielder went 2-for-4 on Thursday and blasted a tape-measure shot that traveled halfway up the bleachers in left-center for a solo homer in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1.

Morse is currently batting .290 and has added more than his fair share of majestic shots into the bleachers that tend to have a lasting effect on fans who have a big part of the All-Star selection come July.

Six innings later, he broke a tie with a hard liner into right-center that skipped past center fielder Peter Bourjos and bounced all the way to the wall, a play that scored two runs and gave the Giants a 6-4 lead.

Starter Ryan Vogelsong didn’t have his best start, but he did give the Giants 6 1/3 innings while giving up four runs on seven hits, walking three while striking out four.

Thankfully, his bullpen was slightly better, particularly Javier Lopez – who earned the win Thursday, thanks to Morse’s go-ahead hit – and Jean Machi, who combined to completely shut down the Cardinals and give the ball to Sergio Romo in the ninth with a two-run lead.

Romo did surrender a run in the final inning, as Matt Carpenter scored Jon Jay with a single, but the closer settled down to get his 17th save of the season.