ST. LOUIS — Madison Bumgarner liked the pitch he threw to Carlos Beltran. So did Beltran.

Beltran hit a two-run homer off Bumgarner in the first inning and that was enough for Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals in a 3-1 win Thursday over the San Francisco Giants.

Bumgarner (12-7) gave up just three hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked one in posting his sixth successive quality start. Overall, Bumgarner was pleased with his performance, just not the final result.

“I feel good about (Thursday), with the exception of that one pitch that really hurt me,” he said.

Wainwright and Beltran helped St. Louis get back on track Thursday. The Cardinals, who have won seven of 10, lost 15-0 to the Giants on Wednesday, their worst home shutout defeat since 1961.

San Francisco completed a seven-game road trip with a 5-2 record and a split of the four-game series in St. Louis. The teams are each 61-51 after play Thursday.

Wainwright (10-10) keyed the bounce-back effort allowing just five hits and one run over seven innings. He struck out seven, walked three and has given up two earned runs or less in each of his last five starts.

Beltran, who leads the NL with 80 RBIs, gave Wainwright all the necessary support with a 409-foot drive over the wall in left.

San Francisco closed to 2-1 in the fifth on Marco Scutaro’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

Scutaro, who hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high seven runs Wednesday night, has hit safely in 11 of 13 games since he was acquired from Colorado on July 27.

Giants star Buster Posey extended his season-best hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the sixth.

Jon Jay, Joaquin Arias

St. Louis runner Jon Jay (19) slides in as San Francisco third baseman Joaquin Arias tries to apply a tag during the Giants’ 3-1 road loss to the Cardinals on Thursday. AP photo

Comments

comments