Photo credit: @SFGiants

By: Mary Anne

The San Francisco Giants looked to win two straight games against the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday night. The Giants defeated the Cardinals 11-3 at Busch Stadium. San Francisco improved to 35-32, while St. Louis dropped to 27-41.

Before the game, San Francisco wished their assistant coach, Alyssa Nakken, a Happy 33rd Birthday. Nakken’s a boundary-breaking coach who became the first woman to coach in an MLB regular season game in April 2022.

The Giants’ starting lineup featured LaMonte Wade Jr., Thairo Estrada, Joc Pederson, J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Mike Yastrzemski, Patrick Bailey, Brandon Crawford, and Alex Cobb. Cobb pitched four innings and gave up five hits, two earned runs, two walks, and five strikeouts.

The first inning ended in a 2-2 tie.

The Giants got on the board in the top of the first inning. Michael Conforto doubled on a sharp fly ball to Tommy Edman. Thairo Estrada and Joc Pederson scored for a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals tied the ballgame in the bottom of the first inning. Paul Goldschmidt singled on a ground ball to Conforto but deflected by LaMonte Wade Jr. Brenden Donovan scored to cut the Giants’ lead in half, 2-1. Dylan Carlson grounded to a force-out, and Thairo Estrada went to Brandon Crawford. Goldschmidt tied the game 2-2 as Nolan Gorman went to third base, Nolan Arenado was out at second base, and Carlson went to first base with two outs.

The Giants regained their lead in the top of the third inning, but they had to overcome some adversity. The Cardinals challenged Michael Conforto’s play for a tag play, but their call was overturned. Conforto singled on a line drive to Jordan Walker. Joc Pederson scored for a 3-2 lead as J.D. Davis was out at third base on the throw, and Walker went to Nolan Arenado with two outs.

The Giants poured in the runs in the top of the fifth inning. Casey Schmitt singled on a ground ball to Dylan Carlson. Blake Sabol scored for a 4-2 lead as Michael Conforto went to third base. Patrick Bailey singled on a line drive to Carlson. Schmitt scored to make it 5-2, as Mike Yastrzemski went to third base. Brandon Crawford was out on a sacrifice bunt as Genesis Cabrera went to Paul Goldschmidt. Yastrzemski scored to extend the Giants’ lead to 6-2 as Bailey went to second base with two outs.

The Giants extended their lead in the top of the sixth inning. Mike Yastrzemski homered on a line drive to left-center field. Michael Conforto scored for an 8-2 lead. Patrick Bailey homered on a line drive to left field to expand the lead to 9-2.

The Cardinals scored in the bottom of the eighth inning, but it was “too little, too late.” Jordan Walker doubled on a ground ball to Blake Sabol. Willson Contreras scored to cut the Giants’ lead to 9-3 as Dylan Carlson went to third base.

The Giants expanded their lead to double digits in the top of the ninth inning. Thairo Estrada singled on a soft ground ball to Tommy Edman. Brandon Crawford scored for a 10-3 lead as LaMonte Wade Jr. went to third base. Blake Sabol was out on a sacrifice fly to Dylan Carlson. Wade Jr. scored for an 11-3 lead as Thairo Estrada went to third base with one out.

The Giants and Cardinals will close their series on Wednesday, June 14, at 10:15 am Pacific.