Yastrzemski homers twice, powers Giants past Cardinals 7-2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski hit a pair of home runs, Logan Webb pitched four strong innings as a spot starter, and the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Friday night.

Webb was a last-minute starter for the Giants after Kevin Gausman was placed on the Family Medical Emergency List. Gausman, a first-time All Star this season, left the team to be with his wife in Louisiana after she was hospitalized with pregnancy complications.

Webb, who was scratched from his start the day before at Triple-A Sacramento, allowed only a bloop RBI single by Tommy Edman in the fourth. He ended his outing by striking out Adam Wainwright with the bases loaded in the inning.

“I was just a little frustrated with some of the two strike opportunities I had, not moving the ball,” Webb said. “Other than that, I thought it went really well.”

Jay Jackson (1-0) earned the decision with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in his debut with the Giants, including coming in to get the team out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. San Francisco won its 19th road game in its last 26 chances.

“It wasn’t the soft landing we were hoping for with Jackson,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “We probably put him in the most difficult possible situation, both with the bases-loaded jam and then having to go back out and complete a whole additional inning.”

LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a three-run home run off Wainwright, breaking a 1-1 tie in the fifth. Yastrzemski’s three-run homer off T.J. McFarland broke the game open in the seventh. It was Yastrzemski’s third career multi-homer game and first since July 29, 2020, against San Diego.

“The production is a team event,” Kapler said. “A three-run homer is only a three-run homer because there are guys on base in front of them.”

Yastrzemski is now 9 for 10 with three homers against McFarland in his career.

“It’s just a guy that for some reason I’ve had success off, I can’t really explain why or how,” Yastrzemski said. “I think a lot of it is I’ve faced him in situations where I’m a little more locked in than at other times when it feels like big moments.”

Wainwright (7-6) had retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced before Yastrzemski’s leadoff home run in the fourth. He struck out seven and secured his ninth season with at least 100 strikeouts, second only in franchise history to Bob Gibson’s 14 seasons.

Wainwright said Wade’s homer changed the game.

“As soon as I gave that up, I knew we were going to have our work cut out for us,” Wainwright said. “So, it only takes a couple of moments like that to swing a ballgame, and tonight they got those moments, and we didn’t.”

Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a leadoff homer in the seventh.

St. Louis stranded 13 base runners and went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. The Cardinals have lost three out of their last four.

MOLINA MILESTONES

Yadier Molina’s single in the seventh moved him past Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter for fifth in Cardinals history with 2,065 career hits. He also played his 2,056th career game at catcher, tying Gary Carter for fourth-most in baseball history. He also made his 1,990th start at catcher, tying Jason Kendall for fourth-most in baseball history.

ROSTER MOVES

The Giants reinstated OF Mike Tauchman (right knee sprain) from the injured list and selected the contract of Jay Jackson. They optioned IF/OF Jason Vosler to Sacramento.

The Cardinals optioned LHP Brandon Waddell to Triple-A Memphis.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: SS Brandon Crawford was removed from the game with a left hamstring cramp in the eighth after extending his hitting streak to 10 games with a single. C Buster Posey (left thumb contusion) resumed light baseball activities and is considered day to day, and IF Evan Longoria (left shoulder sprain) was transferred to the 60-day I.L.

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (right forearm tightness) threw a live batting practice on Friday, and RHP Jack Flaherty (left oblique strain) threw a bullpen session.

UP NEXT

The Giants will start RHP Anthony DeSclafani (10-3, 2.68 ERA) against the Cardinals and LHP Kwang Hyun Kim (4-5, 3.11 ERA) on Saturday night. DeSclafani is 7-4 with a 3.75 ERA in 17 career appearances against St. Louis. Kim pitched seven scoreless innings against San Francisco on July 5 and hasn’t allowed a run in his last two starts (13 innings).

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