San Francisco, CA – Matt Carpenter led a balanced St. Louis offensive attack with three hits, three RBI and three scored runs, as the Cardinals thumped the San Francisco Giants, 14-3, on Sunday in the rubber match of a three-game set.
On a day that San Francisco was supposed to enjoy and cherish after the organization honored its team prior to the contest with their 2012 World Series championship rings, it was the visiting Cardinals who quickly ended the celebration.
Matt Adams had three hits and two RBI, Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran each had two RBI and Jon Jay scored three times and also drove in two runs for the Cardinals, who erupted for a nine-run fourth inning before cruising to the win.
Starter Adam Wainwright (1-1) bounced back from a 6-2 Opening Day loss versus Arizona on Monday to toss seven innings of two-run, seven-hit ball while striking out six in the victory.
Angel Pagan had a double and triple to go along with an RBI and Pablo Sandoval had two hits and one RBI for the Giants, who saw starter Matt Cain (0-1) last just 3 2/3 innings and give up nine runs on seven hits -- all in the brutal fourth inning.
The last time the righty faced St. Louis was in Game 7 of the 2012 NLCS, in which he tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings in a 9-0 victory.
Cain was perfect through three innings, but the fourth proved to be vastly different as the visitors took control for good.
Trailing, 2-0, Jay opened up the inning with a single to center and moved to second on an error from Pagan. Following another single, Craig hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Jay.
Cain walked Beltran and gave up a single to Yadier Molina. Adams drove the ball to deep right field for a ground-rule double, plating two runs. The inning wasn't nearly done as Ty Wigginton singled to score another run, and Pete Kozma hit a soft liner to right field, scoring Adams to make it 5-2.
After an out and a walk, Carpenter, who would be Cain's last batter faced, singled to right for more two runs. Jose Mijares relieved Cain, but hit the first batter he faced and then gave up a two-run single to Beltran to make it 9-2.
In the eighth, Carpenter hit a shallow fly to center. Pagan dove but missed the ball, allowing Jay to score all the way from first. Craig kept the frame going with a single to left to make it 11-2.
The Cardinals added three runs in the ninth with Kozma's sacrifice fly and Jay's two-run triple. San Francisco scored in the ninth with a pinch-hit single from Guillermo Quiroz.
Pagan doubled to right field in the third to plate Brandon Crawford, who doubled to start the inning. Sandoval then lined one up the middle to bring home Pagan for a 2-0 lead.
Game Notes
Wainwright has allowed three runs over 14 innings in each of his last three starts spanning the regular season and playoffs against the Giants. He is 3-2 in his last six starts overall versus San Francisco ... The Giants sported gold colored numbers on their jerseys and had gold embroidered on the symbol of their hats in honor of the championship ring ceremony.
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