Monday’s Game Report: Cardinals 2, Giants 1
By Rob Rains
Quinn Mathews seems to be settling quite nicely into the Cardinals’ rotation.
Making his seventh start, Mathews carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and limited the Giants to one run as he pitched into the seventh before the Cardinals hung on to beat the Giants Monday night at Busch Stadium.
A leadoff double in the sixth broke up the no-hit bid and led to the Giants’ only run.
In his last four starts, Mathews has allowed a combined five runs over 23 1/3 innings. He struck out eight on Monday night, giving him 23 strikeouts in those four starts.
After Mathews left the game, the Giants left the bases loaded in the seventh, stranded two runners in the eighth and got the tying run to third and go-ahead run to second against Riley O’Brien in the ninth before the Cardinals’ closer got the final out.
Here is how Monday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals scored both of those runs in the fifth. With one out, Thomas Saggese singled and Ivan Herrera walked in front of an RBI single by Alec Burleson, his 110th RBI of the year. After a walk to Jordan Walker loaded the bases, Leo Bernal singled to drive in the second run. The Cardinals left the bases loaded, however, as the next two batters were retired … Bernal had a three-hit night with a double and two singles while Saggese had two hits and a stolen base … Burleson reached base three times on two hits and a walk.
On the mound: The only runner allowed by Mathews through the first five innings came on a walk in the fourth. He allowed two hits in the sixth but a strikeout-caught stealing double play ended the inning. In the seventh, two singles and a two-out walk ended Mathews’ night but Justin Bruihl got out of the base-loaded jam … Ryne Stanek allowed a two-out single and walk before getting out of the eighth on a line drive to third … In the ninth, O’Brien gave up a one-out single and walk before throwing a wild pitch with two outs that move the runners to second and third before a ground ball closed out the win.
Key stat: Dating back to last season, the last nine games between the Cardinals and Giants have all been decided by one run.
Worth noting: Nathan Church went 0-of-3, snapping his career-best 12-game hitting streak … It was announced on Monday that Walker is the Cardinals’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.
Up next: Andre Pallante will get the start on Tuesday night in the second game of the series.
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