GIANTS rock Wainwright, beat Cards 9-4

[yuiyoshida]

ST. LOUIS -- On a night when the Giants knocked out the major league ERA leader in the fifth inning, had Hunter Pence crush a homer into Mark McGwire territory and got 10 strikeouts from their young ace, the most impressive moment might have been a walk.

Brandon Hicks fouled off four Adam Wainwright pitches before taking a 10-pitch walk with two outs and none on in the second. It was the kind of plate appearance that has become emblematic of the grinding Giants, and it opened the floodgates in an impressive 9-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants scored four runs in the inning -- three coming on Pence's blast -- and Wainwright wouldn't last much longer.

"That was big," a beaming Pence said of the walk. "When you're facing a guy like Wainwright, you try to fight and scratch and claw to get the pitch count up. He's one of the best in the game. That (plate appearance) was pivotal to that inning."

Pence's homer gave the Giants a 5-0 lead, stunning and silencing a rowdy crowd at Busch Stadium. Madison Bumgarner kept them quiet the rest of the night, allowing just four base runners in seven shutout innings and erasing two of them with double plays. He has back-to-back 10-strikeout games for the first time since 2011.

http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_25870315/giants-rock-wainwright-beat-cardinals-9-4#