Cardinals blown out by Giants
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis Cardinals rookie Joe Kelly had been right at home pitching at Busch Stadium -- until Wednesday night.
Kelly entered the game against the San Francisco Giants with a 2.73 ERA in six starts at Busch. He allowed nine hits and seven runs in five innings in a 15-0 loss to the Giants, though only four of the runs were earned.
"I felt good out there," Kelly said. "I felt like I was making good pitches and commanding both sides of the plate with my fastball."
It did appear that Kelly (2-5) had his `A' game, as he struck out the first two batters he faced. But Melky Cabrera and Buster Posey extended the inning with singles and Hunter Pence had an RBI single to make it 1-0
"I felt like I was making good pitches down in the zone," Kelly said. "They just had their way."
Kelly hurt himself in the third inning when after allowing a leadoff single to Angel Pagan and then threw the ball down the right-field line on a pickoff attempt. Pagan scored on a single by Marco Scutaro, who would go on to drive in seven runs.
"We've got to have a short memory on this one and look forward to getting out here tomorrow and changing what we looked like tonight," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.
Ryan Vogelsong (10-5) gave up three hits in seven innings. He has gone at least six innings in all 21 of his starts, the longest such streak for a Giant since Bill Swift did it 24 straight times in 1993.
"I'm just going out there and trying to get outs and trying to get as deep as I can into a game," Vogelsong said.
Pence had two hits and scored twice. He began the day batting .143 (4-for-28) in seven games for the Giants since being traded from Philadelphia.
Cabrera had two hits and scored two runs. He leads the majors with 154 hits.
In the sixth, Cabrera led off with a double against Kelly and after a walk to Posey, Pence hit an RBI single. Brandon Belt's single loaded the bases and an error by second baseman Tyler Greene on Ryan Theriot's ground ball led to two more runs and Kelly's departure.
"I wasn't tired," Kelly said. "I felt the same the whole way until I got taken out of the game."
Brandon Crawford later had an RBI single and Pagan's sacrifice fly made it 7-0.
Jon Jay had two singles for the Cardinals in his third straight multihit game. He is 11-for-22 in his last six games.
NOTES: St. Louis reliever Mitchell Boggs had gone 23 straight appearances without allowing a run. ... Allen Craig, who hit two solo home runs Tuesday, was out of St. Louis' starting lineup with soreness near his ribs. ... Adam Wainwright (9-10) tries to reach the .500 mark when he opposes the Giants' Madison Bumgarner (12-6) on Thursday in the series finale. . . . Cardinals SS Rafael Furcal was given a shot in his sore back and sat out. He is considered day-to-day.