By MATT PIKE
Bryce Eldridge hit a solo home run in the first inning and Christian Koss connected the next inning which would be all the San Francisco Giants needed to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 at Oracle Park.
Quinn Mathews fell to 1-3 on the seasonsurrendering the two home runs and five hits with four strikeouts and walking two, making his sixth career start and fifth on the road for St. Louis. With two outs in the inning, Mathews got Eldridge to a 2-2 count with two outs before the Giants designated hitter sent the ball sailing out in left center field. In the second inning, Mathews again got two outs, before giving up a 2-0 count home run to Kloss to the left field seats.
The Cardinals struggled to figure out Giants starter Landen Roupp who allowed two hits over six scoreless innings with four walks and two strikeouts. St. Louis did load the bases in the third inning, but Roupp escaped the jam forcing Jordan Walker to ground into a forceout, throwing Alec Burleson out at second base. The Cardinals got on the scoreboard in the ninth inning against Joel Kuhnel, making his home debut after being claimed off waivers from the Brewers, after he allowed a two-out single to Nathan Church and Bryan Torres' RBI single, scoring Church after he advanced to second, before Iván Herrera for his seventh save.
At the plate St. Louis managed just five hits. Torres was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. Burleson was 1-for-1 with three walks, while the Cardinals also got hits from Herrera, Church, and Thomas Saggese.
St. Louis and San Francisco wrap up their series tomorrow. Andre Pallante (12-6, 3.51 ERA, 98Ks) takes the mound for the Cardinals opposite Blade Tidwell (0-2, 4.43 ERA, 36Ks) for the Giants. First pitch is at 2:45pm, coverage begins at 2:35pm on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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