Without Pence, Giants ride Cueto to victory

ST. LOUIS — Responding to the challenge of thriving without premier run producer Hunter Pence, the San Francisco Giants relied on offensive flurries in the fourth and ninth innings, which complemented typically strong pitching by Johnny Cueto and five relievers Friday night in a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

In fact, except for a third-inning throwing error by first baseman Brandon Belt on a toss that Cueto probably could have caught, the Giants played mistake-free defense. Cueto took care of the rest.

Earlier Friday, the Giants announced that Pence, who leads the Giants with 36 RBIs, likely will undergo surgery to remove a right hamstring tendon that could sideline him for eight weeks. The Giants responded by stringing together four second-inning singles, including run-scoring hits by Belt and Brandon Crawford before staging another uprising in the ninth. That featured Denard Span’s two-run, bases-loaded single and Matt Duffy’s run-scoring sacrifice bunt.

“We’ve got to pick it up a notch and get more timely hits,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

Lacking Pence and left fielder Angel Pagan, who’s probably at least a week away from returning from an injured left hamstring, Duffy essentially said the best offense is a good defense.

“That’s definitely one way we can go about it,” the third baseman said. “I think the biggest thing overall is not giving other teams extra opportunities, extra outs.”

Though Cueto (9-1) felt somewhat sluggish — “It just wasn’t my day today,” he said — the right-hander still had enough to win his sixth consecutive decision while allowing an unearned run and four hits in six innings. San Francisco’s bullpen blanked St. Louis through the final three innings to seal the Giants’ 18th victory in 22 games. The Giants improved to 5-3 on their three-city trip, clinching no worse than a .500 record on their 10-game sojourn.

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright delivered a respectable seven-inning performance but faltered in the fourth.

Wainwright felt his worst pitch of the night was the single he gave up to Buster Posey, but remained positive about the start as a whole.

“I …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com