St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - With a 7 2/3-inning gem from Barry Zito
leading the way, the San Francisco Giants staved off elimination for the
fourth time this postseason by recording a 5-0 win over the Cardinals in
Game 5, sending the National League Championship Series back to San Francisco
and putting St. Louis' bid for a second consecutive World Series appearance
at least on hold. Zito (1-0) scattered six hits and a walk while striking
out six in turning in another clutch late-season performance that trimmed the
Giants' deficit to 3-2 in this series. The battle-tested lefty also
contributed on the offensive end, dropping in an RBI bunt single that capped a
four-run fourth inning. Brandon Crawford knocked in two runs and Pablo
Sandoval went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and scored twice to help San
Francisco, which battled back from a 2-0 hole to overtake Cincinnati in the
best-of-five NLDS, stay alive. Cardinals starter Lance Lynn (1-2) wasn't as
effective in failing to make it out of the fourth inning for a second
straight NLCS start. The 18-game winner during the regular season
surrendered four runs -- though all were unearned due to a costly throwing
error of his own doing -- on four hits and a pair of walks along with six
strikeouts. Yadier Molina accounted for two of seven total hits for the
reigning world champion Cardinals, who gained the upper hand in this set by
earning victories at Busch Stadium in each of the previous two days. These
teams will next meet Sunday at AT&T Park with a 7:45 (ET) start time. The
pitching matchup will be a reprisal of Game 2, with Chris Carpenter taking
the ball for the Cardinals and Ryan Vogelsong toeing the rubber for San
Francisco.
The Sports Network