Game Wrap 5/15/2022: Cardinals 15 Giants 6

 It looked like a classic battle of aces, a grizzled veteran and a up-and-comer, but the Giants suffered an embarrassing defeat on national TV as the Cardinals savaged Carlos Rodon LHP for 8 runs in 3.2 IP.  The game ended with Albert Pujols DH/RHP lobbing batting practice pitches which is as close to running out the clock as baseball is going to get.

Even though only two of the 8 runs scored off Rodon came on a HR, this was not a case of bad BABIP luck.  Most of those 10 hits were scalded.  It's probably not a coincidence that several of the hardest hits came on first pitches.  This reminds me of the game fairly early in his career when the Minnesota Twins were crushing Bum's first pitches and he couldn't get out of the first inning.  Turns out the Twins spent a lot of time scouting video and picked up a pattern.  You also have to wonder if the Cardinals picked up something on video that tipped Rodon's pitches.  If that's the case here, this makes two games in a row where the Cardinals used old fashioned veteran savvy and scouting to outsmart the data driven guys.  We might want to hope these two teams don't meet in the postseason because I'm pretty sure Yadier Molina C is living rent-free in Gabe Kapler's head right now.

Joc Pederson DH hit a two run HR in the 6'th inning to drive in the Giants first two runs.  It was a legit HR off Adam Wainwright RHP and broke a 12-game homerless streak in which Pederson went 2 for 28 and just 1 for 24 since straining a muscle in 4/27. 

Joey Bart C drew a walk early in the game that drew praise from the CNN broadcast team.  He later hit a HR but it was off Albert Pujols so it's almost like it didn't count, but it will count in the record books.

Luis Gonzalez LF/P pitched the final 1.1 innings for the Giants and also hit a HR off Pujols to become the first NL pitcher to hit a HR in the DH era, FWIW.  BTW, Gonzalez was the Giants most effective pitcher of the night.

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The Giants will try to get this game and Yadier Molina out of their heads but they move on to another place that tends to get into their heads, Coors Field.  Alex Wood LHP faces Antonio Senzatela RHP in an evening game.