Drew Gilbert hit a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the 10th inning after the San Francisco Giants blew a lead in the ninth as they hung on to beat the host St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon.
Gilbert hit the first pitch from Riley O’Brien (3-9) over the fence in center, also bringing in automatic runner Grant McCray, and sending the Cardinals to their sixth loss in nine games.
Left-hander Reiver Sanmartin (3-0) retired one batter in the ninth to pick up the victory after St. Louis took advantage of right-hander Dylan Smith’s fifth blown save by scoring two runs in the ninth. Trailing 4-2, the Cardinals’ Jose Fermin hit a sacrifice fly, and Leo Bernal hit a two-out RBI single to tie the score.
Joel Kuhnel walked two and allowed an unearned run in the 10th but converted his eighth save for the Giants (64-89).
Rookie Jonah Cox had three hits, two stolen bases and an RBI, and former St. Louis player Andrew Knizner had three hits and drove in a run for the Giants, who took two of three from the Cardinals (75-78) after sweeping them at home last week.
Right-hander Anthony Molina allowed two hits and a walk to go with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings and lowered his ERA to 4.18. He had a 5.24 ERA in seven combined appearances coming in.
Activated from the injured list before the game, Cardinals rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his first appearance since Aug. 29. Wetherholt, a leading candidate for National League Rookie of the Year, missed 15 games because of right wrist tendinitis.
Cox’s first stolen base figuring prominently in the Giants’ first run in the third inning against lefty Matthew Liberatore.
With one out and runners at the corners after Cox stole third, Brett Harris hit a sharp grounder to first. Alec Burleson made a nice backhanded stab with his mitt before stepping the bag for an out.
Burleson flipped quickly to Thomas Saggese near second base for a tag play on Bryce Eldridge, who was lumbering slowly enough to the bag that he wasn’t tagged until Cox had crossed the plate for the lead.
Liberatore allowed one run, six hits and three walks to go with two strikeouts over six innings.
Clinging to a one-run lead, San Francisco was a combined 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position until Cox lined an RBI single in the seventh against Luis Gastelum. Jordan Walker’s throw from right field hit baserunner Christian Koss and deflected off third baseman Nolan Gorman for an error, allowing Koss to score to make it 3-0.
The Cardinals scored twice in the seventh without a hit thanks to two errors by the Giants before Knizner added a two-out RBI single in the eighth to give San Francisco a 4-2 lead.
