Mike Yastrzemski broke a sixth-inning tie with a solo home run, John Brebbia pitched out of a jam in the eighth, and the San Francisco Giants outlasted the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Sunday for a second straight win and a split of their four-game series.
LaMonte Wade Jr. also homered for the Giants, who got five sharp innings from right-hander Jakob Junis in his first start for the team after he played the previous five seasons for the Kansas City Royals.
Juan Yepez hit his first big-league home run for the Cardinals, who completed a 3-3 trip and will get a rematch with the Giants at home next weekend.
Yastrzemski’s homer, his second of the season, came after the Cardinals had tied the score at 3 in the top of the sixth on a Harrison Bader infield out. Dylan Carlson’s ground-rule double set up the score.
Genesis Cabrera (1-1) got the first two Giants out in the sixth before Yastrzemski hit his blast to right field to account for the game’s final run.
The Cardinals threatened in the eighth when Carlson singled with two outs and Bader walked. But Brebbia, a former Cardinal, struck out Andrew Knizner with the potential tying run at second base to retain the one-run advantage.
Giants closer Camilo Doval then struck out Nolan Arenado with Paul Goldschmidt on second to end the ninth and register his fifth save.
Dominic Leone (2-0), who allowed the Cardinals’ game-tying run in the sixth in his only inning, was credited with the win.
A majority of the game’s scoring came in the second, when the Cardinals went up 2-0 on Yepez’s homer, only to see the Giants bounce back with three runs in their half of the inning.
Yepez, promoted for the first time earlier in the week, hit his homer in his 17th career at-bat. It came off Junis, who worked five innings, allowing just the two runs and three hits. He walked two and struck out five.
The Giants drew even at 2 almost immediately, when Wade hit his first homer of the season after Darin Ruf had walked to lead off the bottom of the second against Cardinals starter Daniel Hudson.
Singles by Mauricio Dubon and Curt Casali set up a Yastrzemski sacrifice fly one out later to give the Giants their first lead.
Hudson went 4 2/3 innings, charged with three runs on five hits. He walked four and did not record a strikeout.
Yastrzemski and Wade had two RBIs apiece, and Ruf collected two singles for the Giants, who outhit the visitors 7-6.
Yepez finished with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Cardinals. Carlson and Goldschmidt also had two hits apiece.
–Field Level Media
