St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Adam Wainwright stymied San Francisco over
seven stellar innings on Thursday, as the St. Louis Cardinals pushed the
Giants to the brink of elimination with an 8-3 triumph in Game 4 of a National
League Championship Series at Busch Stadium.
Wainwright (1-0) was roughed up for six runs in only 2 1/3 innings in his Game
5 NLDS start against the Washington Nationals, but his teammates bailed him
out by mounting one of the most improbable comebacks in division series
history to advance to the NLCS.
The 31-year-old right-hander redeemed himself on Thursday, limiting the Giants
to one run on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks to earn the victory.
Jon Jay, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina each registered two RBI, while Allen
Craig and Pete Kozma added an RBI apiece for the defending champions, who look
to claim their second straight NL pennant on Friday when they host Game 5.
Tim Lincecum (1-1) was knocked around in his first start of the postseason,
giving up four runs on six hits and three walks over 4 2/3 frames.
Pablo Sandoval crushed a two-run homer in the ninth and Hunter Pence added a
solo shot, but the Giants dropped consecutive road games for the first time
since July 7-8 of this season.
San Francisco will turn to veteran left-hander Barry Zito to keep their season
alive in Friday's Game 5, while Lance Lynn will toe the rubber for the
Cardinals as they look to close out the series in front of their home crowd.
The Sports Network