What a difference a day can make.
After losing three consecutive games in dreadful fashion to the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants were fantastic in the first game of a four-game series with significant playoff implications, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2
Starting pitcher Johnny Cueto was at his best for the Giants, pitching a five-hit, six-strikeout complete game for his team-leading 16th win of the season. It’s the fifth time Cueto has gone the distance for the Giants in his first year with the team. Buster Posey was the star on offense, going 4-for-5, his second four hit game of the season.
Manager Bruce Bochy made two significant changes in an attempt to wake the Giants’ slumbering offense. First, he dropped leadoff hitter Denard Span to eighth in the lineup, a spot he hasn’t hit in since 2008. Then he canceled on-field batting practice, telling the players to show up to the park two hours before the first pitch.
Who knows if either move, or maybe the full moon, had any effect, but the Giants smacked around St. Louis starting pitcher Adam Wainwright from the first inning until his exit with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. First it was Hunter Pence who sent a two out hanger over the left field wall to give the Giants a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. After the Giants hit .216 in the three-game series with the Padres, the instant injection of offense was a welcome sight.
Cueto helped himself out in the fourth inning, giving the Giants back the lead by scoring Eduardo Nunez on a sacrifice fly after the Cardinal’s evened things up at two runs a piece. Angel Pagan, who entered Thursday’s game going 7 for his last 51, also came to life, knocking in his 49th RBI of the season to extend the Giants’ lead to 4-2.
Even Posey nearly ended his 53 game home run drought, hitting a deep double off the center field wall to open the bottom of the fifth. Posey should’ve been thrown out when attempting to take third base on a flyout from Pence moments later, but Cardinals third baseman Jhonny Peralta dropped the ball when attempting to apply the tag. The Giants would end up squandering the opportunity, though, as Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford lined and grounded out to second, respectively.
In an interesting twist of fate, Span would prove to be the one to break the game open in the bottom of the seventh, with a two out, two run bases loaded RBI single to give the Giants a comfortable 6-2 lead.
In addition to extending their lead in the NL Wild Card to a game and a half over St. Louis, the Giants also made up ground on the Dodgers, who lost 7-3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks. San Francisco now sits four games behind Los Angeles for the NL West division lead, ahead of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine next Monday.