Cardinals’ Bats Come Alive, Beat Giants 14-3

The St. Louis Cardinals jumped all over Matt Cain, and used a nine-run fourth inning to beat the San Francisco Giants 14-3 Sunday night. Utility player Matt Carpenter drove in two runs with a single in the nine-run fourth, and led the Cardinals with three RBIs after going three-for-five at the plate.

Giants starter Matt Cain cruised through the first three innings without giving up a hit before the Cardinals opened the flood gates in the fourth. The Giants took a 2-0 lead into the inning after Angel Pagan and Pablo Sandoval drove in runs in the bottom of the third, but the Cardinals followed with an outburst of runs that led to Cain’s early exit from the game.

After Carpenter got his second hit of the inning and drove in Ty Wiggington and Pete Kozma, the Giants brought in left-handed relief pitcher Jose Mijares as Cain fell apart after a good start. The Cardinals nine runs in the fourth came off of eight hits and two walks and gave St. Louis a 9-2 lead.

The huge inning stopped the Giants in their tracks, as San Francisco had just three hits over the next four innings. The Giants were led by Pagan who finished two-for-four at the plate with an RBI while Sandoval was the only other Giants’ player with multiple hits.

Adam Wainwright got the start for the Cardinals in the rubber-match, and benefited from his teams big inning on the way to his first win of the season. Wainwright pitched seven innings Sunday and gave up two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts before being relieved.

With the 14-3 beat down, the Cardinals won two-of-three in San Francisco and now will go back to St. Louis for their first home series of the season. The Cardinals will face the Cincinnati Reds in a three-game set, who gave the Washington Nationals their first loss of the season this past Friday.

The Cardinals currently trail the Reds by a game in the NL Central, and have scored 20 runs in two games after being shut out by Barry Zito in game one against the Giants. Jaime Garcia will get the start on the mound Monday for the Cardinals in search of his second win after pitching 5.2 strong innings in a 6-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 2.

Can the St. Louis Cardinals take care of business at home against the Cincinnati Reds and take the lead in the NL Central?

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