By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: San Francisco Giants third baseman Eduardo Nunez makes a valiant effort on a off balance throw to first base to get the St Louis Cards Tommy Pham who beat the throw for an infield single Friday night at AT&T Park

SAN FRANCISCO-Where in the world were these bats when the San Francisco Giants were being swept by the San Diego Padres?

After scoring six runs in the series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals, but tonight the Giants scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning alone on their way to a 8-2 victory over the Cardinals before 41,278, the 481st consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.

Of the 14 runs scored by the Giants thru the first two games against the Cardinals, 10 of them have come with two outs.

On the other hand, the Cardinals are slipping deeper and deeper off the wild card pace, as they are now three games behind the Giants for the top spot in the wild card race.

Thru the first two games of the series, the Cardinals are 12-for-65 at the plate, .185 clip against the Giants.

Eduardo Nunez led off the bottom of the third inning by striking out against Cardinals starting pitcher Luke Weaver, and then the flood gates opened, as nine out of the next 11 batters reached base. Joe Panik drove in Denard Span with the first run of the inning.

Span walked with one out, then Matt Moore reached on a throwing error by Weaver, then Angel Pagan singled to load the bases and then Panik hit the sacrifice fly. Buster Posey then picked the first of his three hits on the evening that scored Moore and Pagan.

Brandon Belt then drove in two more runs, as he doubled to score Panik and Posey to stretch the Giants up to 5-0. Brandon Crawford then singled, but Stephen Piscotty threw Belt out at the plate; however Bruce Bochy challenged the call, and the call was reversed, scoring Belt.

Weaver lasted 2.2 innings, allowing six runs (none of them earned) on five hits, walking two and striking out four.

Moore went the required five innings to pickup the victory for the Giants, as he allowed two runs on five hits, walking three and striking out four.

Buster Posey ended his longest homer less drought of his career, as he hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was Posey’s first home run since July 16 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, ending a streak of 184 at-bats without a home run. Posey’s last home run at AT&T Park was against the Colorado Rockies on July 6.

It was the 13th home run of the season for Posey, who is 7-for-9 in the series with a double and a home run. In the series opener on Thursday night, Posey 4-for-5 against Cardinals pitching.

Hunter Pence extended his hitting streak up to 10 games, as he is 18-for-39, a .462. Clip with 11 runs, five doubles, two home runs and seven runs batted in during the streak.