ST. LOUIS — Turns out when a team is aching for runs any runs at all are enough when the pitching and defense is foolproof.
The Cardinals and starter Dakota Hudson spent a majority of Saturday’s game defending a 1-0 lead – and did so against the Giants under the glare of a sun and without any evidence there would be more offense on the way. Tommy Edman doubled the lead with a solo homer, and after reliever Ryan Helsley’s peerless escape in the seventh the Cardinals pulled away for a 4-0 victory against San Francisco at Busch Stadium.
The shutout was the 152nd caught by Yadier Molina.
The loss ended the Giants’ six-game winning streak, and it gave the Cardinals a momentary respite from a decline in scoring. They had managed three or fewer runs in seven of their past 11 games. Eight of their past 12 home games had featured three or fewer runs on the home side of the scoreboard.
Rookie Brendan Donovan delivered the first run of the game with a one-out double in the second inning that scored Molina. For the first four innings of the game, that was the only run of the game in front of a sellout crowd of 44,537. Hudson (3-2), undone by walks in his previous start vs. the Giants, pitched five scoreless innings. He sidestepped five hits allowed and two walks with six groundouts.
Edman's solo homer off Giants' starter Jakob Junis with two outs in the fifth inning doubled the Cardinals' lead. Edman ended a three-for-27 skid with his fourth homer of the season.
The fewer the runs, the more flawless everything else had to be.
No one has been as close to that as Helsley.
The Cardinals widened their slim lead only after Helsley walked a tightrope to protect it.
The right-handed reliever had warmed up four times in the previous five games, but as the Cardinals misplaced leads or tumbled out of games, he never emerged from the bullpen. In the seventh, when rookie Andre Pallante could not complete his appointed rounds, the Cardinals turned to Helsley with the bases loaded, one out, and the middle of the Giants’ order coming up.
Helsley struck out 20 of the first 31 batters he faced this season and allowed only one hit. That was the only baserunner against him in 10 innings. So, what he was about to do was new.
Against left-handed hitter Brandon Belt, Helsley fell behind 2-0 on two 99-mph fastballs. Belt fouled off a 100-mph fastball and then took a 101-mph fastball to remain ahead in the count, 3-1. For the fifth pitch of the bat, Helsley stayed low, dialed back to 98 mph, and got something he had not all season.
A double play.
Belt skipped Helsley’s fastball up the middle where shortstop Edmundo Sosa greeted it, gloved it, and turned it into an inning-ending double play.
After the double play, the Cardinals doubled their lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, Paul Goldschmidt’s fly ball to center field appeared to be a routine fly ball – until it dropped two feet to the right of center fielder Austin Slater. The Giants’ outfielder lost the ball in the sun. Ruled a double, Goldschmidt’s hit brought home Sosa and set up Nolan Arenado. The Cardinals’ usual third baseman, snagging a day at designated hitter Saturday, delivered a double to left field that scored Goldschmidt. Arenado has 27 RBIs.
Giovanny Gallegos took the mound to secure the shutout in the ninth. The four-run lead meant that the right-hander did not qualify for a save.
Unofficially, Helsley already collected it.
