By Barbara Mason

Wednesday aftternoon the San Francisco Giants (64-89) finished up their three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals (75-78). With this series tied at one apiece it will be up for grabs today. The game got underway amid some some very warm temps, low nineties at first pitch. Both teams had quiet starts through the first two innings. It was the Giants who drew the first run of the game. San Francisco would take the only run of the game into the seventh inning. The Giants lit up in the seventh inning scoring 3 runs taking a 3-0 lead. In a crazy bottom of the seventh San Francisco had gone from playing clean ball to back-to-back errors allowing the Cardinals to score a run and load the bases scoring yet another run trailing 3-2. The Giants were able to score an insurance run in the eighth inning taking a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game but were unable to cross the finish line and this game went into extra innings. San Francisco hit a 2-run home run to start the top of the tenth taking back the lead 6-4. It got dicey in the bottom of the tenth inning and although St. Louis did load the bases and score one run they came up a run short. The final was 6-5 in favor of San Francisco; they had won the game and the series.

GAME RECAP

San Francisco starting pitching Anthony Molina had a couple of great opening innings going three and out in both of them. St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore was equally effective although did give up a walk in the first inning and a single in the second. Both starters were successfully limiting the traffic on the bases.

The Giants broke through in the third inning scoring the first run of the game. Jonah Cox singled followed by a Bryce Eldridge walk. With the two runners on base, Cox scored when Brett Harris hit into a double play and San Francisco was first up on the scoreboard and the Cardinals would have to play catch-up in a very close game. Molina closed out the fourth inning pitching with continued exceptional work.

The Giants had runners at first and third in the fifth inning but left them both stranded missing an opporunity to extend their lead. Molina gave up a single in the bottom of the inning, San Francisco taking the 1-0 lead into the sixth inning.

In the sixth inning the Giants again put two runners on base but just couldn’t bring them home. With two outs and nobody on base there was a pitching change for San Francisco. Anthony Molina had been terrific going 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball with an 82 pitch count. He was relieved by Philip Abner who closed out the inning.

San Francisco had more opportunity to advance their 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning. First at bat Andrew Knizner was hit by a pitch and advanced to first followed by a Christian Koss single. With the two runners on base Jonah Cox singled Knizner home and Koss scored on a throwing error taking a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

Carson Seymour would take the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning. It had been looking so good with the Giants playing some really clean ball. Unfortunately this game did a 360 in the seventh. With two outs and one runner on base San Francisco had back-to-back errors. The Cardinals scored a run on the second error and were finally up on the scoreboard 3-1. With Seymour struggling, there was another pitching change for the Giants with Trent Harris relieving Seymour. It was a bit of an ugly start for Harris throwing a wild pitch that scored a second St. Louis run and this was a one run game 3-2. Harris went on to get the third out.

The Giants badly needed an insurance run and they achieved just that in the top of the eighth inning. Shay Whitcomb hit a single reaching second base on a throwing error. Andrew Knizner singled Whitcomb home and San Francisco had a little breathing room leading 4-2.

Harris did give up a double in the bottom of the eighth inning but closed out the inning. The Giants were three outs away from winning game three and the series despite some very unfortunate miscalculations. Leading by two runs they had a great chance to close out this game with a win in regulation.

There was not much going on in the top of the ninth inning and this game went into the bottom of the ninth. Dylan Smith would take the mound for the Giants looking to close out this game. Smith walked Nolan Gorman the first at bat followed by a Thomas Saggese infield hit and the Cardinals had two runners on base with no outs. There would be more discussion on the mound but no changes. The first out came at the expense of Nathan Church. The winning run Ivan Herrera came to the plate and Smith walked him loading the bases. The Giants were in deep trouble. Fermin hit a sacrifice fly driving Gorman home and this was a one-run game 4-3. With two outs Smith gave up a single to Leo Bernal and Saggese scored and this was a tie game 4-4. With two outs St. Louis had runners at first and third and that was it for Smith. Sanmartin relieved Smith and got out of the inning when one of the Cardinals best hitters Alec Burleson grounded out and San Francisco had survived a walk-off going into the tenth.

The Giants got a home run in the top of the tenth inning off the bat of pinch hitter Drew Gilbert with Grant McCray onboard taking back the lead 6-4 and San Francisco was back in business. What an amazing way to start extra innings. The Cardinals continued to fight and with one out they had runners on first and third. Again the Giants were looking at another awful situation with the bases loaded when St. Louis drew a walk. There had been some real struggles on the mound for both Smith and Joel Kuhnel. Kuhnel got the final out in this agonizing game although he did allow one run. The final of this crazy game was 6-5

GAME NOTES

After a bit of a blowout yesterday, the Giants had a mixed bag in game three. San Francisco again took the first lead of the game but some late inning defense almost cost the Giants this game. The positive we can take from this game is that San Francisco found a way to win this wild game despite giving away some scoring opportunities late. They did win the series and the game 6-5. The offense did enough early with some important contributions throughout the lineup. They survived the ninth inning and did not collapse completely after the defensive problems. St. Louis did put a lot of pressure on San Francisco late in the game.

The defensive collapse late in the game was problematic. This was by far their biggest negative in this game. San Francisco had played a clean, solid game going into the late innings and then it all seemed to fall apart committing back-to-back errors. They sure gave St. Louis a lot of opportunities turning a game that looked pretty comfortable into a nail-biter. Routine defensive plays were not being made cleanly and there was a lot of pressure on the pitching staff because outs just were not being recorded. The Giants defense continues to be an issue especially late in games when it most matters. Sloppy defense can erase good pitching and hitting in a flash. The Giants just made this game far more difficult than it had to be.

So the Giants were resilient and found a way to win but the late-inning defense was absolutely unacceptable. Shay Whitcomb who was playing second base had an error and Casey Schmitt followed that error with a second one. Those miscues helped to create the Cardinals’ rally and the reason that this game became so tight.

A bright spot in this game for sure was the outing that came from Anthony Medina. He was excellent; he went 5 2/3 innings allowing no runs. The Cardinals were having a lot of trouble accomplishing anything against him. He left the game with a shutout intact turning the game over to the bullpen which turned into chaos defensively as well as some command issues from the bullpen.

Friday night the Giants will take on their rival the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series their last road trip of the season. Cesar Perdomo will take the mound for San Francisco with an 0-1 win/loss record and a 3.68 ERA. The Dodgers will start Tyler Glasnow. He has a 4-1 win/loss record and a 3.50 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 7:10 PM.

5 2/3 shutout baseball