SAN FRANCISCO _ It took a little time and a whole mess of relievers from San Francisco, but eventually the St. Louis Cardinals would give rookie Jack Flaherty the gift of a no decision in his major-league debut.
The Cardinals scored nine runs in the final three innings and got four triples overall as they rallied for an 11-6 victory against the Giants late Friday night at AT&T Park. All nine of those decisive runs came against the Giants' bullpen, including six in the ninth inning. Stephen Piscotty crushed a three-run homer in the ninth to make what was a rather tight game into a rout. Greg Garcia's triple tied the game in the eighth, and Dexter Fowler's triple in the ninth set up what would be the winning run. Kolten Wong slapped a single to score Fowler and send the Cardinals to their second consecutive win and their third in four days on the road trip. Paul DeJong's two-run double just gave the Cardinals some space.
Flaherty, added to the roster Friday afternoon and starting in place of traded Mike Leake that night, started strong and would have done well if not for the middle of the Giants' order. He lasted four innings and allowed the five runs.
The Cardinals' bullpen, hoisted by John Gant's two innings, held them there as the Cardinals began their rally. Harrison Bader hit the first homer of his career and Randal Grichuk hit his third in as many games to begin the Cardinals' rally. The rest of the Cardinals' offense came against the Giants' hodgepodge, expanded-roster bullpen. Manager Bruce Bochy used five different relievers to get the first five outs after starter Johnny Cueto left the game in the sixth inning. From there it would be a race to who ran out first: Giants relievers or Cardinals outs.
The bullpen blinked.
Tyler Lyons got the win for his scoreless innings. Flaherty got the break.
The Cardinals gained a game on Colorado in the race for the second wild-card berth into the National League playoffs. They kept several steps behind the first-place Chicago Cubs, who have won five consecutive.
The Cardinals got the tying run into scoring position in the seventh inning and all it took to stop them was the fifth different reliever from the San Francisco Giants bullpen to get a fifth out in the span of two innings.
Ah, September.
Bochy, one of the best at running and utilizing and exploiting a bullpen, used five relievers to get five outs and keep the Cardinals from tying the game. Although all of that machinations and walking to the mound and mileage helped him get to 10,000 steps for the day, it did not keep the Cardinals from scoring entirely. They tightened the game 5-4 with but two innings more to play.
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