The Cardinals‘ offense was pretty good, too.
Weaver pitched two-hit ball over eight innings and St. Louis beat the San Francisco Giants 11-2 on Thursday night.
”He was making quality pitches at the top of the zone, down, changeup, breaking ball,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said ”Everything was spot on but he controlled the count with his heater and got a lot of early balls in the air. He was aggressive.”
Weaver (5-7) faced two over the minimum and had seven strikeouts. The 24-year-old right-hander carried a perfect game into the sixth inning before giving up a single and Hanson’s two-run homer. Weaver then bounced back to retire the final seven batters he faced.
Weaver didn’t allow a hit until Gorkys Hernandez reached on an infield single with one out in the sixth. Gyorko made a diving stop on Hernandez’s sharp liner near third base but the ball popped out of his right hand as he attempted to throw. Hanson followed with his homer.
”As soon as chopped it and Jedd had to dive, I had a feeling there was not going to be a chance to get him,” Weaver said. ”It would have had to have been an incredible slide jump-up throw and I still don’t think he would have got him. It wasn’t a big deal. I was pretty upset about the home run.”
Jedd Gyorko had three hits including a home run and drove in five runs to spoil the return of Johnny Cueto after two months on the disabled list. Matt Carpenter and Harrison Bader also went deep while Yadier Molina singled three times.
The Cardinals had a season-high 18 hits – their most since getting 19 against the New York Mets on Aug. 24, 2016.
Alen Hanson homered for San Francisco. The Giants have scored five runs while losing four straight.
Cueto (3-1) was rocked in his long-awaited return from the 60-day disabled list. He gave up four runs in the first inning – one more than he had in 32 innings before going out with right elbow inflammation.
”Everything was fine except in the first inning when I was trying to be too fine,” Cueto said. ”Instead of just pitching, I was just trying to place the ball in the strike zone. I just have to continue working my way back to where I was.”
WHAT’S THE COUNT?
San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval appeared to draw a two-out walk in the fifth and began trotting to first base before being called back after Matheny noticed there were only three balls. Two pitches later, Sandoval struck out to end a 12-pitch at-bat.
”I whistled and had the umpire stop for a second Marshawn Lynch Jersey ,” Matheny said. ”At about the same time, the replay called and then they figured it out on the field by the time we needed to come out of the dugout.”
BABY BULL RETURNS
Orlando Cepeda attended the game for the first time since suffering cardiac arrest in February that left the Hall of Famer in critical condition. The Baby Bull was in the parking lot of a gym when he fell and hit his head during the incident. The 80-year-old is one of the most popular players in franchise history.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler was reinstated from the paternity list before the game. … Tyler O’Neill was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain. … RHP Matt Bowman (blister) was activated off the DL and optioned to Triple-A Memphis.
Giants: Manager Bruce Bochy said that RHP Jeff Samardzija will have fewer restrictions than Cueto when he returns from the disabled list to start Saturday’s game. Samardzija hasn’t pitched since May 29 because of shoulder tightness. … INF Kelby Tomlinson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. … RHP Roberto Gomez was released.
UP NEXT
John Gant (2-2, 3.48 ERA) pitches for St. Louis on Friday. The right-hander has had mixed success since rejoining the rotation and allowed four runs in 5 1/3 against Atlanta in his most recent start. RHP Dereck Rodriguez (3-1 3.16) starts for San Francisco.
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For the first time since 2004, the Minnesota Timberwolves are entering May without their customary collection of good-luck charms for the NBA draft lottery.
The longest-running absence from the playoffs in the league finally over, the Wolves took a significant accomplishment into the summer after their 47-35 record during the regular season tied for the fifth-best in franchise history.
”When you haven’t done something for 14 years, it’s a major step for our organization, and it’s not easy to do. Winning in this league is very difficult, and we should understand that,” said president of basketball operations and head coach Tom Thibodeau, who joined general manager Scott Layden on Monday for a wrapup news conference.
Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns gave the Timberwolves multiple representatives at the All-Star game for the first time since Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell in 2004 on their way to the Western Conference finals. That was the most recent postseason appearance until the first round series with Houston tipped off earlier this month. With 16 out of 41 home games declared sellouts, they had their highest number since 1991-92, and local television ratings were way up, too.
Still Gerald McCoy Jersey , in typical Timberwolves fashion, the road to relevancy was not without potholes.
Falling in five games to the Rockets was forgivable, considering their opponent had the NBA’s best record, but the Wolves were beaten a total of eight times by the league’s bottom eight teams that all won fewer than 29 games. Win just two of those, and they’re in third place in the West with a much more favorable matchup for the playoffs.
With Butler the resident alpha male in the locker room, the Wolves can no longer be considered an up-and-coming atmosphere where patience with the development of young cornerstones Towns and Andrew Wiggins will be welcomed. With the presence of Butler and the other acquisitions from last year, Taj Gibson, Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford, there’s clearly a win-now window in place.
”They’ve learned what it takes to get yourself to the playoffs,” Butler said. ”Now us as a whole, we have to figure out what it takes to win, whenever we get there. No matter what seed we are, that’s what we’re expected to do.”
Layden wondered aloud whether the Wolves should have been more aggressive to acquire a new player at the trade deadline in February.
”We had a lot of things that went back and forth Chris Carson Jersey , and maybe we should’ve done something a little different,” Layden said. ”I take responsibility for that, but we’re always looking to push and push and get better.”
BUTLER’S HEALTH
Thibodeau has always leaned heavily on the starters he trusts the most, and this season with the Wolves was no exception. Butler was third in the NBA with an average of 36.7 minutes played per game, and coincidentally or not he missed 23 games, all but two because of trouble with his right knee. Thibodeau said Butler will not need an additional procedure.
Butler can also opt out of his contract after next season, without an extension in place.
”It’s important for him to feel good about everything that we’re doing here,” Thibodeau said.
LONG RANGE
The Wolves actually led the NBA during the playoffs with a 41.3 percent make rate from 3-point range, but part of the problem is a lack of space in the playbook for setting up attempts from beyond the arc. They finished last in the league in the regular season with an average of eight 3-pointers made per game.
”I thought our guys in the second half of the season were doing a very good job of looking for opportunities, but we do have to take more,” Thibodeau said.
Even owner Glen Taylor, in an interview earlier this month with his hometown newspaper, the Mankato Free Press Y.A. Tittle Jersey , openly questioned the lack of improvement.
”If other teams can learn to shoot 3s, why can’t we?” Taylor told the Free Press.
WINNING WITH WIGGINS?
The maximum contract the Wolves gave Wiggins last summer will kick in next season, paying the 23-year-old more than $25 million. There’s no player on the roster who will be under more pressure to be more consistently productive on both ends of the court.
”The experience of the playoffs was huge for him. He did a lot of good things,” Thibodeau said. ”I think we saw down the stretch him playing a more complete game, and I think he can build off that.”
BJELICA
Nemanja Bjelica, who played both forward spots off the bench and was a relatively productive starter during Butler’s absence, will be a restricted free agent. His playing time was scant during the playoff series, which Thibodeau said was matchup-related.
”But I thought overall he played really well for us,” Thibodeau said. ”Sometimes you have to put the team first.”
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