SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Alec Burleson and Paul DeJong homered, Miles Mikolas pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 6-0 on Thursday to avoid a four-game sweep.
“That’s what Cardinal baseball is supposed to look like there,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “There are a lot of positive things that came out of today. That’s the style of baseball we need to play.”
Mikolas (1-1) scattered four hits and two walks, striking out six to end the Giants’ five-game winning streak.
“That’s a more normal outing for me, I feel," Mikolas said. "Just better fastball command, throwing strikes with all of my pitches and being aggressive in the zone.”
With one out in the top of the seventh, Burleson sent Logan Webb’s 2-2 fastball over the right-field wall to break a scoreless tie. Later in the inning, Tommy Edman legged out an infield single to second base to drive in another run. Edman was initially ruled out at first but the call was overturned upon video review.
Dylan Carlson added an RBI double in the eighth, followed by DeJong’s two-run homer to left. Paul Goldschmidt made it 6-0 with an RBI fielder’s choice in the ninth.
“You kind of look at how we’ve gone offensively throughout the past couple of weeks, whenever somebody goes, we all go,” Burleson said. “So I think that’s huge for us just to get that spark and then everybody kind of follows suit.”
Webb (1-5) allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts, suffering his MLB-leading fifth loss of the year. Giants manager Gabe Kapler called it a “really good game.”
“Totally in control. Nice, crisp rhythm. Lots of ground balls, strikeouts, low walks," Kapler said. "The one home run is really the only blemish.”
San Francisco had multiple opportunities to score but went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.
The Giants’ best chance came in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with one out. Thairo Estrada hit a dribbler in front of home plate but Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner leapt out of his crouch to field it and made a diving tag on David Villar.
“It’s hard to practice those types of plays because it’s just one of those things where you just try to let your instincts take over,” Knizner said. “And that’s what my instinct told me to do.”
Joc Pederson lined out to right on the next pitch to end the threat.
St. Louis has not been swept in a four-game series since June 3-6, 2021, against Cincinnati.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: After making two rehab starts for Double-A Springfield, RHP Adam Wainwright (groin strain) will make a rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Memphis. He is expected to throw approximately 90 pitches.
Giants: OF Mike Yastrzemski returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game with left oblique tightness. ... C Joey Bart missed his third straight game with right groin tightness. “He’s been trending in the right direction,” Kapler said. “We feel good about the fact that he’s going to be ready to go full-force soon.”
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (2-2, 3.29 ERA), a Los Angeles native, returns home to open a three-game series against the Dodgers on Friday night. Flaherty has a 1.50 ERA in three career starts at Dodger Stadium.
Giants: Following an off day Friday, LHP Sean Manaea (0-1, 6.61) starts the first of two games in Mexico City against the Padres. Manaea pitched for San Diego last season, going 8-9 with a 4.96 ERA.
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