The San Francisco Giants beat the St Louis Cardinals 7-1 in game two of the NL Championship Series, tying the series at one game each.
The Giants needed a big offensive game on Monday to avoid going down 2-0 in the NLCS, and sure enough, they got one. Angel Pagan started the game for the Giants with a leadoff homer, and San Francisco really didn't look back. A double by opposing starting pitcher Chris Carpenter in the second scored Pete Kozma and tied the game at one, but Ryan Vogelsong hunkered down and the Cardinals got nothing after that run.
In the fourth, the Giants offense once again gave Vogelsong the lead, and they did what they did against the Reds: took advantage of mistakes. With men on second and third and one out, Carpenter threw a ball away allowing Brandon Belt to score and Brandon Crawford to reach first base safely. Vogelsong bunted Crawford and Gregor Blanco over, and a walk by Pagan loaded the bases for Marco Scutaro, who singled to bring home two runs, with a third run scoring on an error by Matt Holliday. It's worth noting that Holliday took out Scutaro in the first inning with a hard slide, and that Scutaro would leave the game after the fifth inning.
The Giants gave themselves a little bit of un-needed security in the eighth when Ryan Theriot (ironically replacing Scutaro in the lineup, and also ironically, a member of last year's Cardinals World Championship team) drove in a pair with a single to make it 7-1. Vogelsong's efforts on the mound certainly helped back up a solid game offensively for the Giants. The San Francisco starter allowed just the one run over seven innings on four hits, walking two and striking out four. The only player that showed up for the Cardinals offense was (not shockingly) Carlos Beltran, who doubled twice and walked in four plate appearances.
Game three of the series will be on Wednesday in St Louis, and first pitch is scheduled for 4:00 PM. Matt Cain will start for the Giants, and Kyle Lohse gets the nod for the Cardinals. With a white hot Tim Lincecum scheduled to start in Thursday's game four, the pendulum may be swinging back to the Giants in this series.
