By Barbara Mason

Monday evening the San Francisco Giants (62-88) took on the St. Louis Cardinals (74-76) at Busch Stadium amid some steamy conditions with rain forecast Tuesday and Wednesday.

Through the first three innings it was a pitchers duel. Starting pitcher for the Giants got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the first inning giving up a single and a walk but he closed out the inning. The Cardinals starter Quinn Matthews breezed through the first three innings already striking out four Giant at-bats going three and out in every inning. After five innings, Matthews was cruising going three and out with exception of the fourth inning where he gave up a walk. San Francisco was still looking for their first hit.

San Francisco got into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the fifth inning making three pitching changes in the inning. The Cardinals put two runs up on the scoreboard taking a 2-0 lead. The Giants would finally get their offense going scoring a run in the top of the sixth inning cutting the St. Louis lead in half 2-1. This game went into the bottom of the eighth with St. Louis still leading 2-1 and San Francisco was three outs away from a loss in game one. The Giants got two runners on base in the top of the ninth but just couldn’t bring them home losing game one 2-1.

GAME RECAP

St. Louis starting pitcher Quinn Matthews went three and out to open this game. Giants starter Landen Roupp allowed a couple of runners on base giving up a single and a walk. This scoreless game went into the second inning.

Again it was all Matthews going three and out. Roupp gave up a double and another walk but kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard.

This game continued along the same path in the third inning with Matthews striking out a couple more Giants and going three and out. Roupp was holding pretty steady giving up a couple of singles but no runs.

San Francisco got their first runner on base in the top of the fourth inning via a walk but remained hitless. St. Louis pitcher Matthews was crushing it through four his pitch count at 56. Giant’s pitcher Roupp got his first three and out in the bottom of the fourth. His pitch count was at 69 and this game had turned into a good old-fashion pitcher’s duel. St. Louis had 4 hits through the first four innings. Both teams were looking for a break-through, and the first run of the game.

Matthews got his seventh strikeout in the top of the fifth inning and another 1,2,3 inning. Roupp got into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the fifth giving up a single and a walk putting two Cardinal runners on base with one out. There would be a pitching change for the Giants with Reiver Sanmartin relieving Roupp who was not at all pleased much of his angst due to the calls at the plate by the umpire. Sanmartin loaded up the bases giving up a couple of runs and the San Francisco bullpen got busy. Sanmartin was shakey from the start and he was out. Now it would be up too Joel Kuhnel to get the Giants out of a big-time jam. He got a strike out and a ground out and the Giants had avoided further damage trailing 2-0.

The San Francisco offense came to life in the top of the sixth inning. Grant McCray started off the inning with a double. Jonah Cox singled, McGray scored from second base and the Giants were on the scoreboard cutting the St. Louis lead in half 2-1. Kuhnel went three and out in the bottom of the inning.

The Giants had a great chance in the top of the seventh inning to do some damage putting three runners on base with two outs. There would be a pitching change for St. Louis with Justin Bruhl relieving Matthews who had pitched a great game until the seventh inning rolled around. He had gone 6 2/3 innings. Bruhl went to work getting out of the inning which was huge for St. Louis. The Giants Trent Harris relieved Joel Kuhnel and went three and out in the bottom of the inning.

The Cardinals Ryne Stanek relieved Bruhl striking out both Christian Koss and Jonah Cox in the top of the eighth inning. He went on to give up a single and a walk finally getting the third out and San Francisco got nothing in the inning and were three outs away from losing game one.

The Cardinals would be looking for some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Leo Bernal got his third hit of the game but not much else and the Cardinals would be pinning their hopes on to Riley O’Brien to close out this game.

Nate Furman struck out, but Jung Hoo Lee hit a single and the Giants had the tying run on base and the go-ahead run at the plate. Drew Cavanaugh drew a walk and San Francisco had two runners on base with only one out. Grant McCray struck out and the Giants were one out away from the loss with Christian Koss their final hope. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third and the Giants just needed that one hit. Unfortunately Koss grounded out and that was the ball game, the Cardinals winning game one of the series 2-1.

GAME NOTES

The Giants got excellent pitching from starter Landen Roupp. He pitched into the fifth inning and kept the Cardinals scoreless for much of his outing. It did seem that he did enough to remain in the game which made his removal in the fifth inning interesting. There were three pitching changes in the fifth inning with Reiver Sanmartin giving up 2 hits and a walk being relieved by Joel Kuhnel who got out of the inning. It seemed that the pitching change came back to bite them. The Giants held St. Louis to only two runs which in most cases is good enough to win most games.

The only run of the day came in the sixth inning for the Giants when Jonah Cox delivered an RIB single. This was a huge at-bat giving San Francisco a chance to get back in the game.

The Giants remained competitive throughout once they started hitting. This was not a sloppy or high-scoring game and San Francisco was in the game throughout. They did have their opportunities to tie or even take the lead but were unable to cash in. Their pitching was very good and sure gave them a legitimate chance to win.

The biggest missed opportunity for the Giants was when they loaded the bases in the seventh inning coming away empty. In a 2-1 game that is huge. The timely hit they so badly needed could have completely changed the outcome. They had limited scoring opportunities and San Francisco had to take advantage of them but came up short. This has been a problem for the team. The pitching is good but the work at the plate does not consistently deliver. The bottom line is that the Giants could have won this winnable low-scoring game. The pitching was good enough, the game close enough and the Cardinals were not dominating San Francisco. It was that seventh inning that spelled out this loss.

Tomorrow the Giants will be looking to bounce back in game two and tie up the series. Blade Tidwell will start for the Giants in game two. He has an 0-2 win/loss record and a 4.82 ERA. St. Louis will feature Andre Pallante on the mound. He is having a good season with a 12-6 win/loss record and a 3.45 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 4:45 PM