SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ St. Louis pitcher Luke Weaver flirted with perfection, had
to overcome a little frustration, and settled for domination.
The Cardinals’ offense was pretty good, too.
Weaver pitched two-hit ball over eight innings and St. Louis beat the San
Francisco Giants 11-2 on Thursday night.
“He was making quality pitches at the top of the zone, down, changeup,
breaking ball,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said “Everything was spot on
but he controlled the count with his heater and got a lot of early balls in the
air. He was aggressive.”
Weaver (5-7) faced two over the minimum and had seven strikeouts. The
24-year-old right-hander carried a perfect game into the sixth inning before
giving up a single and Hanson’s two-run homer. Weaver then bounced back to
retire the final seven batters he faced.
Weaver didn’t allow a hit until Gorkys Hernandez reached on an infield single
with one out in the sixth. Gyorko made a diving stop on Hernandez’s sharp liner
near third base but the ball popped out of his right hand as he attempted to
throw. Hanson followed with his homer.
“As soon as chopped it and Jedd had to dive, I had a feeling there was not
going to be a chance to get him,” Weaver said. “It would have had to have been
an incredible slide jump-up throw and I still don’t think he would have got him.
It wasn’t a big deal. I was pretty upset about the home run.”
Jedd Gyorko had three hits including a home run and drove in five runs to spoil
the return of Johnny Cueto after two months on the disabled list. Matt Carpenter
and Harrison Bader also went deep while Yadier Molina singled three times.
The Cardinals had a season-high 18 hits _ their most since getting 19 against
the New York Mets on Aug. 24, 2016.
Alen Hanson homered for San Francisco. The Giants have scored five runs while
losing four straight.
Cueto (3-1) was rocked in his long-awaited return from the 60-day disabled
list. He gave up four runs in the first inning _ one more than he had in 32
innings before going out with right elbow inflammation.
“Everything was fine except in the first inning when I was trying to be too
fine,” Cueto said. “Instead of just pitching, I was just trying to place the
ball in the strike zone. I just have to continue working my way back to where I
was.”
WHAT’S THE COUNT?
San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval appeared to draw a two-out walk in the fifth and
began trotting to first base before being called back after Matheny noticed
there were only three balls. Two pitches later, Sandoval struck out to end a
12-pitch at-bat.
“I whistled and had the umpire stop for a second,” Matheny said. “At about
the same time, the replay called and then they figured it out on the field by
the time we needed to come out of the dugout.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler was reinstated from the paternity list before the
game. … Tyler O’Neill was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left
hamstring strain. … RHP Matt Bowman (blister) was activated off the DL and
optioned to Triple-A Memphis.
UP NEXT
John Gant (2-2, 3.48 ERA) pitches for St. Louis on Friday. The right-hander has
had mixed success since rejoining the rotation and allowed four runs in 5 1/3
against Atlanta in his most recent start. RHP Dereck Rodriguez (3-1 3.16) starts
for San Francisco.
Game time is 9:15 with the pre-game at 8:20 on KTLO-AM.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI