Lars Nootbaar homered, tripled and drove in three runs as the visiting Cardinals cruised to a 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game series that ends Friday night.
Masyn Wynn doubled, singled and scored twice for St. Louis (82-78), which secured a winning record for the 16th time in the last 17 seasons.
Now assured of a winless season, the Giants (79-81) got a two-run homer from Jerar Encarnacion, his fifth, and an RBI double from Mike Yastrzemski in a three-run second that gave the hosts a 3-1 lead. to lead.
Nootbaar cut into the deficit with his 12th homer, a solo shot, in the third inning, and the Cardinals took a four-run lead for good.
Winn doubled with one out to tie the score, Alec Burleson singled Winn home to put St. Louis up again, after Nolan Arenado’s groundout ended Landen Roupp’s double-double night, Nootbaar blasted a triple, making it 6-3.
Roupp (1-2) gave up six runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (10-11) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings, striking out four and walking one.
John King, Andrew Kittredge, Matthew Liberatore and Ryan Helsley recorded the final 12 players. Helsley gave up one hit and struck out two in his 49th inning.
Arenado finished with two hits and two runs for the Cardinals, who have won five of their last six games. Jordan Walker doubled and singled, and Ivan Herrera had two singles.
Yastrzemski, Michael Conforto and Brett Wisely each had two hits for the Giants, who haven’t had a winning season since 2021.
–Field Level Media