Eldridge and Koss Go Back-to-Back, SF Holds Off STL

San Francisco needed just two swings to build its entire margin — back-to-back home runs in the first inning that St. Louis never recovered from. Bryce Eldridge and Christian Koss went deep consecutively, and that 2-0 lead held up as the final score in a 2-1 Giants win.

The game was effectively decided before most fans had settled in. Eldridge opened the scoring with a 389-foot shot to left center, and the win probability swung from 63% to 72% on that single swing. Then Koss followed immediately with a 373-foot blast to left, and just like that SF had a two-run cushion that would prove to be exactly enough. Two batters, two pitches that mattered, and the Cardinals were already chasing. Koss finished 2-for-3 on the night; Eldridge went 1-for-3. Between them: all of San Francisco's offense.

Landen Roupp did his part to protect it. He worked 6.0 innings, surrendering just 2 hits and 0 earned runs — though he did issue 4 walks, which looks like the one area where St. Louis had chances it couldn't convert. Quinn Mathews took the loss for the Cardinals, going 6.0 innings himself and allowing both of those first-inning home runs — 5 hits and 2 earned runs total against 4 strikeouts. Gordon Graceffo came on in relief and was sharp, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts and just 1 hit allowed. Reiver Sanmartin closed it for SF with a clean 1.0-inning frame.

St. Louis made it interesting in the ninth. Bryan Torres singled to right to score Nathan Church, cutting the deficit to 2-1 and giving the Cardinals a pulse. But that's as close as they'd get. Ivan Herrera went 1-for-5 and Alec Burleson was 1-for-1, but the Cardinals' lineup as a whole couldn't string together the kind of rally that would've required. The story of the night was simple: SF's offense did everything in a two-batter stretch in the first inning, and Roupp and company made it stand up. For St. Louis, a late push that came one run short is a tough way to drop a low-scoring September game.