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Beltran and Freese each had two strikes when they homered.
"I think that's been very much of a strong suit for us all season," Matheny said. "And it's a beautiful thing when these guys trust themselves when they get to two strikes. They can be a little more selective early in the count and then they're not going to panic when we do get to two strikes. I give the guys a lot of credit."
St. Louis 18-game winner Lynn didn't allow a hit until Marco Scutaro's single to left leading off the fourth. Hunter Pence singled two outs later and Brandon Belt drove him home with a single. Gregor Blanco followed with a two-run triple, then Brandon Crawford hit an RBI double. Pinch hitter Aubrey Huff -- a 2010 postseason star now in a diminished role -- drew a walk to cheers of "Aubrey! Aubrey!"
And, just like that, Lynn was done.
Bumgarner and Lynn each lasted only 3 2-3 innings. That made for a long night on both bullpens.
The pressure is now on for the Giants not to fall behind 2-0 at home again. They lost the first two games of their division series here to the Reds last weekend before winning three in a row at Cincinnati. They went 48-33 at AT&T Park this season.
Bumgarner, a 16-game winner for the NL West champs, lost Game 2 of the division series at home to the Reds exactly a week earlier.
He pitched a 1-2-3 first on Sunday but ran into trouble in the second when Yadier Molina singled on an 0-2 pitch with one out. Freese then drove a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left-center to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Bumgarner needed 30 pitches to get through the second, and now has an 11.25 ERA in his two postseason starts this year.
Lynn returned to the rotation for the NLCS and his first career postseason start after making four relief appearances in the division series. Matheny needed another starter after left-hander Jaime Garcia injured his left shoulder in Game 2 against the Nationals.
The pressure is now on for the Giants not to fall behind 2-0 at home again.
"We've shown how resilient we can be," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We hate to lose them at home, but it happens. And we've got to wash this one off and come out and be ready to go tomorrow."
NOTES: Matheny caught for the Giants in 2005-06. ... Freese's two RBIs gave him 25 for his postseason career, tied with Molina for third most on the Cardinals. Albert Pujols in No. 1 with 52, while Jim Edmonds has 41. ... Both teams kept their rosters intact from the division series. ... The clubs split their season series 3-all. ... Giants assistant batting coach Joe Lefebvre took over 1B coaching duties in place of Roberto Kelly, who sustained a concussion after being hit by a ball off Buster Posey's bat during batting practice. ... Matheny received a nice ovation during pregame introductions. ... More fans packed the viewing portwalk outside the ballpark beneath the right-field arcade.
[Associated
Press;
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