Cardinals Recap: St. Louis held to pair of hits in 2-0 loss

The St. Louis Cardinals were held to just two hits on Tuesday night, dropping a close contest to the San Francisco Giants, 2-0.

Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong was outstanding for the reigning World Champions, who held the Cardinals’ admittedly depleted offense to just the two hits over six strong innings of work.

San Francisco (66-54) didn’t get on the board themselves until the sixth, when Brandon Crawford grounded a ball to the left side with the bases loaded and one out. Matt Carpenter charged and his only play was to first, allowing the Giants to go up 1-0.

Bruce Bochy‘s club added an insurance run in the seventh when Randy Choate hit Brandon Belt with the bags full, forcing in the second tally of the night for San Francisco.

The Cardinals’ bats struck out 11 times, reaching base a grand total of four times in the loss. Granted, it was just one game, but with a completely new outfield in-place given injuries to Randal Grichuk, Jason Heyward and Matt Holliday, there’s no doubt that some have doubts about the club’s offense in the weeks to come.

St. Louis (76-43) got a strong start from their own right-hander, Lance Lynn, who was saddled with a tough-luck loss, despite allowing just two earned in 6 2/3 innings of work. He struck out six – but did walk five, which came back to bite him in the end.

With the loss, the Cardinals’ lead in the National League Central shrank down to five games, with Pittsburgh picking up a big win at home in extra-innings.

What’s Next:

The Cardinals and Giants will conclude their series on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.

Left-hander Jaime Garcia toes the slab for St. Louis and will be opposed by Giants veteran Matt Cain.

First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m. CT.

Next: Grichuk injury a big blow to the Cardinals