• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Scutaro, Giants down Cards to even NLCS

Oct 16, 2012 - 4:46 AM San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Marco Scutaro was taken out on a hard slide by Matt Holliday while he was trying to turn a double play in the first inning.

A few frames later, Scutaro exacted some revenge.

Scutaro hit a two-run single as part of a four-run fourth inning and Ryan Vogelsong tossed seven frames of one-run ball in the San Francisco Giants' 7-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of the NLCS.

With one out and runners on first and second in the opening frame, Allen Craig slapped a groundball to shortstop Brandon Crawford, who threw to second for the force out.

While Scutaro was trying to turn the double play, Holliday barreled into the second baseman's left leg, which got pinned underneath Holliday. Scutaro lay on the ground for a few moments to collect himself.

"I hated to see that it ended up that way. That's not how we play the game. But we do go hard, but within the rules," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

Scutaro, who hit a pair of singles, exited the contest after the fifth to have X-rays on his left hip.

"It shows you how tough he is," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Scutaro. "It's a shame somebody got hurt. It was more of a roll block. We're hoping he comes out of this OK. He got hit pretty good."

His replacement, Ryan Theriot, slapped a two-run single in the eighth inning.

Giants fans showered Holliday with boos each time he stepped up to the plate.

"You're trying to get to the second baseman and obviously try to knock him down so he can't turn a double play," Holliday said. "As long as you're in the baseline, it's within the rules."

Hard collisions are a sensitive subject for the Giants, who saw their All-Star catcher Buster Posey suffer a broken bone in his left ankle during a play at the plate by the then-Florida Marlins' Scott Cousins in May of 2011. Posey missed the rest of that season.

Vogelsong (1-0) fanned four, scattered four hits and walked two for the Giants, who lost Game 1 by a 6-4 score and had not held a lead at any point in their three prior postseason home games coming in.

"All his pitches were right in the zone, you know, hitting the corners and getting the hitters off balance," Giants center fielder Angel Pagan said.

Pagan joined the Philadelphia Phillies' Jimmy Rollins as the only two players in history to hit a pair of leadoff homers in one postseason.

Chris Carpenter (1-1), last season's postseason hero who brought a career 10-2 mark in the playoffs coming in for the Cardinals, was touched for five runs -- two earned -- on six hits and two walks in just four innings.

"We have faith in him in these situations and know he'll come out next opportunity and make good pitches for us," Matheny said of Carpenter.

Carpenter was limited to three 2012 regular-season starts while recovering from shoulder surgery. He added an RBI double for St. Louis, which tallied just five hits in the contest.

It was a 1-1 game prior to San Francisco's four-run fourth.

Brandon Belt hit a one-out double and Gregor Blanco slapped a single to left field to put runners on the corners. Belt scored when Crawford reached first on Carpenter's throwing error to first. After Vogelsong bunted Blanco and Crawford over, Pagan walked to load the bases.

Scutaro stepped up next and lined a base hit to left-center field, which brought home Blanco and Crawford. Pagan also came home when Holliday booted the ball in the field to make it 5-1.

Theriot's two-run single in the eighth widened the margin to 7-1.

Earlier, Pagan's leadoff shot over the wall in right field got the Giants on the board before Carpenter's double in the second knotted the contest.

Game Notes

San Francisco had been outscored 20-6 during its three home games this postseason ... The Giants have never lost four consecutive postseason home games ... San Francisco was 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position, while the Cardinals finished 0-for-7 with RISP.