Just one of those days: Cardinals take tough loss in finale vs. Giants

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals were probably pleased to see the San Francisco Giants pack up their belongings and depart Busch Stadium following Sunday afternoon's game.

The Giants jumped on Lance Lynn early, just like they did against Adam Wainwright on Friday night, and their 8-0 victory secured the National League leader's third win in the four-game series.

San Francisco outscored St. Louis 23-11 over the four-game series, which culminated with the Cardinals losing their fourth game in five days and fifth in seven.

More disturbing was that Sunday's loss marked the third time in five games that St. Louis faced a seven-run deficit before scoring.

"It's not how we draw them up," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "It's tough on our offense. Obviously, the pitchers are taking a beating when that happens. That just wears them down. You're going to have some guys throw some really good games. You look at one of Lance's best games we've ever seen from him and then this happens. We've seen Waino have one of the best months, best couple months, of any starter in baseball.

"You're just going to have those days, but they are tough on an offense to keep trying to fight and get back into it and a couple times we really have. Today we just couldn't get anything going."

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Shelby Miller allowed seven runs in his first four innings on Thursday against the Yankees, a game the Cardinals lost 7-4. Then Wainwright, coming off a nod for NL Pitcher of the Week, surrendered seven in his 4 1/3 innings Friday against the Giants and St. Louis lost 9-4.

Lynn was coming off the best start of his career -- a five-hit, 126-pitch shutout against the Yankees -- but was ineffective for the duration of his 88-pitch effort Sunday.

"He just didn't have it," Matheny said. "You hate to have a couple of those happen in the same series, but that's exactly what happened. I don't know if there's another way to explain it."

Lynn was pulled after just 3 1/3 innings. He allowed seven runs (four earned) on eight hits, walked four and struck out two.

"I just couldn't get a ground ball to go to somebody," Lynn said. "It's one of those days where that will happen."

He also hyperextended his knee attempting to cover first base in the first inning. Matheny said Lynn's knee seemed fine after the game, but that the club would take another look at it in the morning.

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3 UP

-- Matt Carpenter. His opposite-field single in the first inning extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Then he added a double in the third.

The Cardinals' third baseman went 2 for 3 and pushed his average up a few points to .291. He now has four two-hit games in his past five and is batting .383 (23 hits in 60 at-bats) during the longest active streak in the NL. He has nine multi-hit games during that streak.

-- The Cardinals' bullpen. Forced into action early because of Lynn's lackluster performance, the pen responded with three players allowing just one run over the final 5 2/3 innings. Carlos Martinez, Seth Maness and Jason Motte were each a little shaky at times but got the job done.

Martinez struck out four over his 2 2/3 innings but allowed one run on two hits and walked a batter. Maness allowed three hits in his two scoreless innings. Motte walked a batter and allowed a single in a scoreless ninth.

"I thought Martinez threw the ball well," Matheny said. "He looked like he had a good pace. He wasn't trying to do too much. I think he knew he was going to be out there for a little while. He had better control of the plate. His off-speed stuff, he actually had really good mechanics on his off-speed. He didn't slow down on them at all or tip them in any way. He looked good with his secondary pitches. Motte threw the ball well. Motte's getting outs."

-- Tim Hudson. Is this guy a vampire? The Giants' age-defying 38-year-old righty stifled the Cardinals' bats with seven shutout innings, his second consecutive scoreless start and third such outing this season. He scattered three hits, struck out six, walked three and hit a batter.

Hudson improved to 6-2 on the season and lowered his earned-run average from 1.92 to 1.75. He's had just one All-Star game selection in the past nine seasons, but he could earn himself an appearance next month at Minnesota's Target Field.

"He's had a good season," Matheny said. "The guy is just pitching. He makes pitches."

3 DOWN

-- Lynn's rough start. The first three batters he faced all hit singles, leading to a four-run inning that he labored through in 35 pitches.

"It was a tough one," Lynn said. "That's about it."

-- Kolten Wong's error. Gregor Blanco's groud ball to Wong in the top of the first inning could have resulted in an inning-ending double play that would have limited the damage against Lynn to just one run. But Wong bobbled the ball not once but twice and wasn't able to turn a difficult 4-6-3 double play or even a putout at first. Wong's error, his fourth of the season, led to three unearned runs and helped to inflate Lynn's pitch count early on.

"That's a play he's done here in the last week a couple times," Matheny said. "The odds of getting Blanco on that particular play aren't real high, but if we get a forceout at second then we're still in position to maybe do something. In hindsight we'd like to have an out, yeah, but I'm not going to slow him down in his aggressiveness. I want him to make athletic plays because he can."

Wong redeemed himself, slightly, with a diving snag of a Hunter Pence liner to end the top of the seventh inning.

-- Allen Craig's HBP. The Cardinals can, apparently, breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their cleanup hitter seems to be fine after being hit in the head with an 89-mph pitch from Hudson in the third inning. The pitch knocked Craig's helmet off and he took his time before jogging down to first base, but the St. Louis first baseman seemed to be OK after the game.

"He said he felt fine," Matheny said. "Didn't have any symptoms of anything."

The Cardinals can't afford to lose another bat from their lineup. Craig entered the day with a seven-game hit streak, including two home runs during that stretch, but went hitless in two at-bats Sunday.

You can follow Nate Latsch on Twitter (@natelatsch) or email him at natelatsch@gmail.com.