Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants got off to a hot start, only to watch the big lead vanish. However, they were able to pull themselves together in time to get a 9-8 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium Wednesday night.

They scored four runs in a big third inning, a surge that was started by Mike Yastrzemski’s solo homer. However, the Cardinals used the next three innings to chip away at the lead and eventually tie the game. The game-tying hit came from none other than Paul Goldschmidt, a notorious Giant-killer whose triple in the fifth brought in two runs.

Undeterred, the Giants grabbed the lead again one inning later, when Brandon Crawford nailed a three-run homer off reliever Dominic Leone.

The Cardinals came up with a four-run inning of their own in the sixth, which was sparked by Tommy Edman’s run-scoring triple, while Goldschmidt’s two-run double gave St. Louis its first lead of the game, 8-7.

Kevin Pillar, who went 4-for-5 on Wednesday, gave the Giants the lead back for good in the top of the eighth with a two-run shot off Giovanny Gallegos.

The Giants bullpen shut the Cards down for the final three innings, Fernando Abad, Tyler Rogers, Tony Watson and Will Smith, who nailed down his 31^st save of the season, combined to give up only three hits and a pair of walks.

Madison Bumgarner did not have a strong start, as he surrendered six runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out two.

The Giants and Cards wrap up their series on Thursday at 10:15 a.m. PT.