SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Matt Carpenter listed off so many positives from St. Louis on Monday: a gem from Kwang Hyun Kim, the patience finally getting to Giants All-Star Kevin Gausman, to holding off a potential comeback at the end.
The Cardinals star tried not to add any extra significance to his at-bat that changed the game in the seventh.
Kim pitched seven scoreless innings, Carpenter hit a two-run triple in the seventh for the first runs of the game and St. Louis snapped San Francisco’s three-game winning streak by beating the Giants 5-3.
“Today was just what we kind of have always expected the kind of club we have,” Carpenter said. “It was good starting pitching by KK, he really threw the ball well, and tough, competitive at-bats by a really good starting pitcher. The guy took a no-hitter into the top of the seventh and really just painting and not making any mistakes and we found a way to scratch against him.”
Kim (3-5) allowed three hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
Donovan Solano and Steven Duggar hit RBI singles in the ninth against Alex Reyes, but San Francisco’s comeback bid fell short.
Gausman didn’t allow a hit until Nolan Arenado’s one-out single in the seventh that started a two-run rally in what had been a scoreless game. After Yadier Molina struck out, Tommy Edman singled before Carpenter’s triple.
Arenado, an NL All-Star, added an RBI single in the eighth.
Gausman said he had been fortunate against Arenado earlier in the game and “he finally got his hit he kind of deserved.”
“He’s obviously one of the best third basemen if not the best third basemen in baseball. That’s what good players do, they make an adjustment,” Gausman said. “I was amazed he fouled off the previous pitch. It was a really good pitch that he happened to go get and the split on the base hit was really a pretty good pitch, too.”
Alex Dickerson slugged a pinch-hit home run in the bottom half of the inning that held up on replay review.
Gausman (8-3) began the day with a 1.68 ERA, the lowest through 16 starts of any Giants pitcher since the team moved West in 1958.
The right-hander, named an All-Star on Sunday, issued a one-out walk to Paul Goldschmidt in the first then didn’t allow another baserunner until Carpenter walked with one out in the fifth. But Gausman turned an inning-ending double play as Harrison Bader flied out and Carpenter was caught off first.
Third baseman Wilmer Flores made a diving stop of Edmundo Sosa’s hard grounder to start the sixth and fired to first.
St. Louis had scored two or fewer runs in each of its last 10 road losses but pulled this one off after finally getting to Gausman.
“We’ve been in a lot of close games and we’ve won some and we’ve lost some lately that have stung,” manager Mike Shildt said.
The Cardinals and Giants play again to begin the season’s second half at St. Louis — with the all-time series 351-350 with the Cardinals leading for the first time since May 27, 1999 (283-282).
Since 2019, St. Louis is 11-20 against the NL West on the road.
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