On the hottest day of the year at AT&T Park, the Giants offense was cold as ice.
San Francisco was shutout and managed only four hits on Sunday, falling to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0, splitting the four game series at two games apiece.
The consecutive losses to St. Louis negate the progress made in the NL wild card race with wins in the first two games, and give the Cardinals the edge in the season series, something that would give them home field advantage in the one game playoff, should both teams finish with identical records. The Cardinals currently sit one game behind the Giants who have fallen a game out of the first spot following another Mets win on Sunday.
Cardinals starting pitcher Alex Reyes was stellar in his third major league start, fanning six in seven innings of four hit ball, improving his ERA to 1.03. The Giants sputtering offense did everything they could to help out St. Louis, failing to provide timely hits on three separate occasions with runners in scoring position.
An Aledmys Diaz two run homer off Giants starter Alberto Suarez put St. Louis on the board in the third inning. Johnny Peralta’s RBI single off the left field wall in the eighth inning provided the insurance run.
The Giants spoiled another solid outing from Suarez, who allowed two runs on five hits and was pulled in the fifth inning after throwing just 60 pitches, as Bruce Bochy elected to pinch hit with a runner at third in the sixth inning. The decision was not fruitful, as pinch-hitter Connor Gillaspie hit a weak foul popup to end the inning.
San Francisco blew another opportunity to score in the sixth inning. Span opened with a lead off single, then advanced to third after Reyes threw a ball about 10 feet over the head of first baseman Matt Carpenter in an attempt to thwart a Brandon Crawford infield single. Brandon Belt was walked to load the bases following a Hunter Pence strikeout, but Eduardo Nunez failed to come through, flying out to left field to end the inning.
Cory Gerrin was exceptional in two innings of middle relief, striking out five of the six batters he faced, causing the Cardinals to whiff 13 times.
The Giants are now 0-58 this season when trailing after eight innings.
Two of the best pitchers in baseball with face off tomorrow as the Giants begin a three game set with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. Madison Bumgarner (14-9 2.66 ERA) will take the hill for San Francisco while Clayton Kershaw makes his third start for the Dodgers since returning from the 60-Day disabled list. First pitch is at 7:10 and can be listened to live on KNBR 680.
