MLB-pitcher
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| ▲ In this Associated Press photo, Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Oracle Park in San Francisco on July 5, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ In this Associated Press photo, Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Oracle Park in San Francisco on July 5, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ In this Getty Images photo, Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Oracle Park in San Francisco on July 5, 2021. (Yonhap) |
MLB-pitcher
Cardinals' Kim Kwang-hyun shuts down MLB-leading Giants for 2nd straight win
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, July 6 (Yonhap) -- In his best start of 2021, Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the major league-leading San Francisco Giants for his second straight victory.
Kim tossed seven shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks, as the Cardinals defeated the Giants 5-3 at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Monday (local time).
This was Kim's longest outing of this season and also his first scoreless start. He improved to 3-5 while lowering his ERA from 3.79 to 3.39.
Kim struck out two and made 89 pitches, 58 of them for strikes.
The Giants came into this game at 53-30, the best record in the majors, but they couldn't solve the South Korean left-hander at home.
Kim pitched around a two-out single by Wilmer Flores in the first. He also gave up a single to Brandon Crawford with one out in the second but erased him with a double play ball off the bat of Jaylin Davis.
Austin Slater got a two-out single off Kim in the third inning but nothing came out of that as Kim struck out Thairo Estrada to end the inning.
Kim fell behind 3-1 on Estrada before getting him to whiff on two straight sliders.
Kim had an injury scare with one out in the fourth inning. After throwing his second pitch to Darin Ruf, Kim appeared to tweak his back when his spike got caught on the mound during his delivery. Manager Mike Shildt, pitching coach Mike Maddux and a team trainer all checked with Kim on the mound, but the left-hander stayed in the game. He had missed time at the start of the season and again in June with lower back problems.
Kim ended up walking Ruf but got the next two batters out to keep the Giants off the board.
Kim looked none the worse for the wear though. He helped himself with a quick fifth inning, when he needed only six pitches to retire the side for his first three-up, three-down frame of the game.
He was even more efficient in the sixth inning, throwing only five pitches to sit down the top three hitters in the Giants' order.
Kim finally got some offensive help in the top of the seventh inning.
Nolan Arenado broke the no-hit bid by Giants starter Kevin Gausman with a one-out single in the seventh. And after an infield single by Tommy Edman, Matt Carpenter came through with a two-run triple to put the Cardinals up 2-0.
Kim, following an extended break between innings as his teammates staked him to a lead, looked dicey in walking Ruf on four pitches to start the seventh.
But Kim dug deep and got the next three outs. Donovan Solano hit a grounder to third base for what could have been a double play but just beat the throw to first -- he was initially called out but the ruling was overturned after a video review -- but was stranded after a flyout and a groundout.
Kim was lifted for pinch hitter Tyler O'Neill with one out in the eighth inning, and the Cardinals added a run later that inning.
The Giants cut it to 3-1 in the eighth on a solo homer by Alex Dickerson, but the Cardinals came back with a pair of runs in the ninth.
Those extra runs proved to be huge, as the Giants clawed back for two runs in the bottom of the inning before ultimately coming up short.
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