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 A late fill-in, Vogelsong authored six shutout innings as San
Francisco blanked the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 at Busch Stadium.
In improving to 9-8, Vogelsong allowed two hits, walked one and
fanned five. After slogging through a 30-pitch first inning, the
right-hander retired 16 of his last 17 hitters, allowing only a
leadoff double by shortstop Jhonny Peralta in the fourth.
"After the first inning, my fastball command was pretty good,"
Vogelsong said. "I was a little erratic in the first. But after
that, I was fairly decent. I feel like I've been throwing the ball
really well in the second half."
Vogelsong knocked off Washington 3-1 on Thursday night, but San
Francisco manager Bruce Bochy planned to start recent acquisition
Mike Leake against St. Louis. However, Leake's hamstring didn't heal
enough for him to come off the disabled list.
Bochy felt good about his plan B.
"Ryan's a warrior who gives you all he has, and that's all you can
ask," Bochy said. "He was really on with the fastball command after
the first inning, and then he started mixing in the curve and the
cutter. He was locked in with his location."
Four relievers handled the last three innings for San Francisco
(65-54), with Santiago Casilla garnering his 29th save. The Giants
moved within 2 1/2 games of the first place Los Angeles Dodgers in
the National League West, pending the outcome of the Dodgers' game
in Oakland.
Lance Lynn (9-8) matched Vogelsong for five innings in a bounce-back
outing. After giving up seven runs in the first inning Thursday
night against Pittsburgh in his shortest major league start, Lynn
delivered on his promise to improve.
He didn't allow a hit until shortstop Brandon Crawford's leadoff
double off the glove of sprinting left fielder Brandon Moss in the
fifth and took a one-hitter into the sixth. But San Francisco
finally cracked the code, loading the bases with one out and scoring
the one run it needed on Crawford's slow grounder to third that
plated center fielder Gregor Blanco.
The Giants tacked on their last run in the seventh when first
baseman Brandon Belt was plunked by reliever Randy Choate with the
bases loaded. It scored Madison Bumgarner, who became the first San
Francisco pitcher to pinch-hit successfully in 11 years with a
two-out single.
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Lynn permitted four hits and two runs over 6 2/3 innings, walking
five and fanning six as the Cardinals (76-43) saw their NL Central
lead over Pittsburgh fall to five games.
"I knew he wasn't going to put up a game like he had last time," St.
Louis manager Mike Matheny said of Lynn. "He did what he needed to
do and gave us a chance. But two hits in a game isn't going to cut
it."
It was the ninth time the Cardinals have been blanked this year.
They have scored just two runs in their last 21 innings, dating back
to Sunday's 6-4 loss to Miami, and haven't produced a hit with
runners in scoring position since Saturday night's 6-2 victory over
the Marlins.
Meanwhile, the Giants got a win they had to have, thanks to the guy
who wasn't supposed to start.
"This time of the year is fun," Vogelsong said. "It's like playoff
baseball, even though it's August. I enjoy the intensity and the
pressure."
NOTES: San Francisco RF Hunter Pence (left oblique) didn't start
after injuring himself swinging at a Trevor Rosenthal pitch in the
ninth inning on Monday night. ... St. Louis CF Jason Heyward (left
hamstring) didn't start after leaving Monday night's game in the
third inning, but was available to pinch-hit if needed. ... Giants
RHP Mike Leake (hamstring) wasn't able to make the start as
scheduled Tuesday night. Leake has allowed just two runs in 16
innings of two starts against the Cardinals this year.
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