Pomeranz pounded; win streak ends at 4
Because the Giants entered Friday night’s game against St. Louis in China Basin riding a fourgame winning streak in which they’d scored 40 runs, a reporter asked manager Bruce Bochy in his pregame news conference if that stretch had made him reconsider his retirement decision.
“Yeah, if I had known I’d get 10 runs a game or close to it, I’d do this for a lot longer,” Bochy cracked. “But no, all kidding aside, I’m good with it.”
A few hours later, the Cardinals gave Bochy one more reason not to secondguess the decision he announced in February that he will retire after this season, his 13th with the Giants and 25th overall as a manager.
St. Louis banged out 14 hits and overpowered the Giants 94.
In Drew Pomeranz’s previous two starts before Friday, he struck out a combined 18 batters in 10 innings and gave up two runs.
On Friday, the lefthander gave up more than two runs before he recorded two outs.
With one down, Jose Martinez took Pomeranz way deep to left. Martinez’s eighth homer of the season was estimated at 433 feet and it gave the Cardinals a 10 lead.
It soon became 30. Paul DeJong singled before Paul Goldschmidt unloaded on Pomeranz (29). The former Arizona first baseman’s 15th homer of the season — and 23rd in his career against the Giants — was a towering blast to center field estimated at 449 feet.
It took Pomeranz 33 pitches to navigate the top of the first. Dakota Hudson needed 37 to get through the bottom half.
Walks to Brandon Belt and Pablo Sandoval sandwiched around a Buster Posey single loaded the bases with no outs. Hudson (74) responded by getting Alex Dickerson on a short fly to left and then fanning Evan Longoria.
Hudson, though, walked Brandon Crawford on a 32 pitch and Kevin Pillar singled home Posey as the Giants cut their deficit to a run.
They tied it in the third as Dickerson tied into a Hudson pitch and lifted it over the Levi’s Landing sign in right. That’s four homers in 14 games with the Giants for Dickerson.
St. Louis quickly regained the lead. Kolten Wong doubled down the leftfield line to open the fourth. After a Hudson sacrifice, Tommy Edman launched a triple to rightcenter to make it 43, Cardinals.
It has been quite a threeday stretch for Edman, a former Stanford infielder who made his majorleague debut June 8. Edman delivered a pinchhit, threerun homer in the ninth inning in a 52 win at Seattle on Wednesday. In a 54 victory over the Mariners on Thursday, Edman hit a goahead tworun single in the seventh.
Edman, a switchhitter, went 1for4 with a walk Friday.
Pomeranz departed after four innings and the Cardinals tacked on two runs in the fifth off Trevor Gott. Matt Wieters had an RBI single and Wong’s fielder’s choice grounder brought home the run that upped the Cards’ lead to 63.
St. Louis added two in the seventh. Dexter Fowler launched an RBI triple off Mark Melancon and Wieters’ single off Derek Holland brought home Fowler for an 83 game.
Fowler’s homer to right off Ray Black in the ninth accounted for the Cardinals’ final run. Black was making his first appearance with the Giants this season.
Madison Bumgarner had ignited the Giants’ winning streak by limiting the Diamondbacks to a run on four hits in seven innings in a 104 decision Sunday. Bumgarner gets the start Saturday night against the