Jordan Walker snapped a 0-for-25 slump with a walk-off two-run double to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-2 victory over the visiting San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.
The Cardinals (71-72) trailed 2-0 going into the ninth inning before scoring three times against Giants closer Ryan Walker (5-5).
Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn hit singles to start for St. Louis, then Jimmy Crooks was hit by a pitch. Thomas Saggese hit an RBI single, then Walker pulled his double into the left field corner.
Justin Verlander pitched six scoreless innings for the Giants (72-70), who missed an opportunity to gain ground on the New York Mets in the National League wild card race.
The Giants had won five straight games and 11 of their last 12.
Verlander held the Cardinals to three hits while striking out six batters. He climbed into eighth on baseball’s all-time strikeout list with 3,536, passing Gaylord Perry.
Cardinals starter Andre Pallante allowed two runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Kyle Leahy pitched two scoreless innings and reliever Riley O’Brien (3-0) pitched the ninth to earn the victory.
The Giants threatened with two outs in the third inning. Jung Hoo Lee hit a single, Rafael Devers walked, and they advanced on a wild pitch.
But Pallante struck out Willy Adames to strand them.
San Francisco broke ahead 2-0 in the fourth inning. Dominic Smith hit a single and went to third on a single by Matt Chapman. Casey Schmitt hit a sacrifice fly and Drew Gilbert hit an RBI double.
The Giants threatened again in the sixth inning. Chapman hit a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. But with two outs, he was thrown out trying to score on another wild pitch.
