Reyes shows veteran poise in shutting down Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — Thrust into a Major League rotation at the heart of the Cardinals’ playoff push, rookie Alex Reyes responded Sunday by matching the magnitude of the moment with the biggest performance of his career. His seven shutout innings served as the backbone for a 3-0 win that pulled the Cardinals to within one game of the Giants in the Wild Card race.

“That kind of answers a lot of questions about whether he can handle pressure when you put him in a spot like that,” manager Mike Matheny said. “He knows where we are in the season, and he’s been able to really maximize the moment, which is something that’s very hard for a kid to do.”

In many ways, Reyes, 22, spent the summer building toward this day. After serving a suspension for testing positive for a drug of abuse, Reyes opened his season in Triple-A, where the Memphis staff began to refine the repertoire that had bumped Reyes to the top of the organization’s prospect chart. Reyes was encouraged to throw his changeup — a pitch especially effective Sunday — more liberally to right-handed batters and to pound the bottom part of the zone.

But what he had all along is what, in particular, shined Sunday — a presence beyond his experience.

“You always look to see how he’s going to react in …

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