Sometimes when a few players get hot on a ball club, the rest of the team follows suit. And for the San Francisco Giants, the whole team got hot on a muggy night at Busch Stadium. Led by Aubrey Huff’s three home run night, the Giants out-homered the St. Louis Cardinals, eventually winning by a score of 12-7.
Huff’s 4-5 night also included a RBI single, while tying a career-high six RBI’s. It was Huff’s first time ever hitting 3 dingers in one game, and it was his fourth in the last two games; taking the team lead to eight on the year. Huff marks the first Giant to hit three homers in a game since J.T. Snow in August of 2004 against the Phillies.
Freddy Sanchez had been playing small ball very effectively as of late, but flashed some lumber tonight, hitting a three run jack in the seventh, his third of the year. His homer preceeded Huff’s second for back-to-back jacks for the G-Men, and finished with four RBI’s. Andres Torres accounted for the rest of the Giants offense, going 3-5 with two RBI’s.
Jonathan Sanchez (W 4-3) was erratic to start the night, but luckily the offense gift wrapped a win for him. Sanchez lasted for five and 1/3 innings this evening, allowing three runs off four hits, with six walks and only one strikeout. Jeremy Affeldt got his first save of the year for his two scoreless innings of work tonight, while Santiago Casilla pitched well in his third outing of the year thus far.
Luckily for the Cardinals Cody Rasmus’ night kept them in the game, going 2-5 with six RBI after a grand slam and a two RBI triple. Allen Craig also had an RBI double in the first, but it wasn’t enough against the Giants tonight. Rookie starter Lance Lynn (L 0-1) gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings of work in his first start as a Cardinal, along with four hits and five strikeouts. The Giants took the series 3-1, only the first series loss for the Red Birds in their last 15 series.
With the win the Giants move to 31-25 on the year, and into a tie with the Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. Full box score can be found here.
The Giants will finally head home Friday to begin a 10 game homestand, starting with a three game set with the Colorado Rockies. Matt Cain (3-4 3.88 ERA) will take the mound for the G-Men to face Juan Nicasio (1-0 0.00 ERA) for Colorado. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.
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