Sports

Cardinals’ bullpen repels Giants

MOTTE STUFF: Cardinals closer Jason Motte gets to the bag to force out the Giants’ Marco Scutaro in the ninth inning last night, moments before St. Louis put the finishing touches on its 6-4 victory in Game 1 of the NLCS. (
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SAN FRANCISCO — As hard as the Giants tried to make it deja blew it in these NL playoffs, the Cardinals weren’t about to switch roles last night and become the Nationals.

For that, manager Mike Matheny can thank his bullpen, after it produced 5 1/3 scoreless innings and helped the Cardinals defeat the Giants 6-4 last night in Game 1 of the NLCS before 42,534 at AT&T Park.

The Cardinals, who overcame a six-run deficit to beat the Nationals 9-7 in Game 5 of the NLDS on Friday, stormed to a 6-0 lead in the fourth last night and then withstood the Giants’ four-run surge in the bottom of the inning against starter Lance Lynn before relievers Joe Kelly, Marc Rzepczynski, Edward Mujica, Trevor Rosenthal, Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte dominated for the remainder.

“That wasn’t how we wanted to do this,” Matheny said. “Lance Lynn hit a wall, needed some help and the bullpen came in and did a great job.”

David Freese admitted flashbacks to Friday entered his mind in the fourth inning as the Giants were rallying.

“I’m thinking about the D.C. game,” Freese said. “They were up 6-0. We were up 6-0. That shows you’ve got to keep playing.”

The Giants, winless in three home games this postseason, will try to get even tonight when Ryan Vogelsong faces Chris Carpenter.

One thing is certain: The Giants will have to win at least one home game in the NLCS if they plan to reach the World Series. They won the NLDS against the Reds by sweeping three games in Cincinnati after losing the first two games at home.

“We hate to lose them at home,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I like the way we battled back.”

The Giants received their own strong bullpen effort, which included two scoreless innings from Tim Lincecum.

Bochy said last night’s use of Lincecum would not preclude the right-hander from possibly starting Game 4 in St. Louis. But it’s also possible Bochy would stick with Barry Zito in that spot and consider Lincecum to start in Madison Bumgarner’s place for a potential Game 5.

The left-handed Bumgarner lasted only 3 2/3 innings last night and allowed six earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and one walk. It was the second straight subpar performance of this postseason for Bumgarner, who lasted only 4 1/3 innings in his NLDS start against the Reds and allowed four earned runs.

Gregor Blanco’s two-run triple was the big hit in the fourth for the Giants, after Brandon Belt had delivered an RBI single for the team’s first run. Brandon Crawford added an RBI double.

Carlos Beltran’s two-run homer in the top of the fourth was the highlight of a four-run inning for the Cardinals. Pete Kozma drilled an RBI double and Jon Jay’s run-scoring single gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead before Beltran cleared the left-field fence for his 14th homer in 29 career postseason games. He hit two homers against the Nationals in the NLDS and batted .444.

“It’s hard for me to explain this production,” Beltran said. “I don’t feel the pressure. I don’t feel like I need to do something special.”

Freese’s two-run homer in the second got the Cardinals started. Yadier Molina singled before Freese hammered a full-count pitch for his first homer of this postseason.

Lynn, who replaced injured Jaime Garcia in the NLCS rotation, lasted only 3 2/3 innings and surrendered four earned runs o five hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Lynn, who won 18 games for the Cardinals during the regular season, pitched from the bullpen during the NLDS.