Oct 15, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro (left) reacts after colliding with St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday (right) on a double play attempt during the first inning of game two of the 2012 NLCS at AT
After being wiped away by the hot Cardinals in Game One of the NLCS, the Giants came back all the way yesterday and just played a great game. The pitching, defense, and hitting were all there for the Giants as they rolled over the Cardinals starting very early. However, on a first and third play, the Giants went for a double play and as second baseman and former Red Sox Marco Scutaro turned the double play, Matt Holliday absolutely obliterated him– sliding right over the bag and into his legs– that will come up later. However, the inning would wind up being scoreless and the Giants retaliated in the bottom of the first on a home run to right for Angel Pagan.
However, the Cardinals did answer that run with one of their own in the top of the second. A two out walk for Pete Kozma set up an RBI double by Cardinals’ pitcher Chris Carpenter to tie things at 1-1. Neither team scored again for a little while, until the Giants put together a rally in the fourth inning– starting by putting runners at the corners with one out. One run scored when Brandon Crawford reached first base on a throwing error by Carpenter, and before you knew it, the Giants had the bases loaded and a 2-1 lead, still with one out. That was when Scutaro made his mark after being taken out, singling to left and scoring two runs, before Matt Holliday– the man who crashed into him– made an error that allowed another run to score and make it 5-1.
Both Ryan Vogelsong’s excellent performance (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) and Chris Carpenter’s not so excellent performance (4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 ER) were done by the next time either team scored. That moment would come in the bottom of the eighth, after the Giants had loaded the bases with just one out. Ryan Theriot, who had entered the game after Scutaro left the game due to the leg injury he had sustained earlier, delivered with a single to score two runs to make it 7-1. The Giants held the Cards for one more inning to tie up the series at 1-1.