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Adams comes through late to help Cards top Giants in opener

Six pitchers combined to strike out a season-high 16 hitters, including 13 by the bullpen in the final 61/3 innings.

ST. LOUIS - The Cardinals brought Matt Adams back to the team in August just for moments like the one he found himself in Friday night – two runners on, two outs in a 3-3 game in the eighth inning.

Even when the Giants switched to left-hander Tony Watson, Adams stayed in the game, and delivered a two-run double that broke the tie and gave the Cardinals the win, maintaining their hold on the second wild-card spot with eight games to play.

The hit by Adams, claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals, was just inside the third-base line, with Evan Longoria playing well off the line. It followed a two-out walk to Harrison Bader and a single by Yairo Munoz and broke an 0-of-14 streak.

Six pitchers combined to strike out a season-high 16 hitters, including 13 by the bullpen in the final 61/3 innings.

Here is how the game broke down:

At the plate: Kolten Wong was 0-of-10 in his career against Madison Bumgarner after his first at-bat in the second inning, but he came through with RBI singles in each of his next two at-bats to put the Cardinals in front 3-1 … Wong later had to come out of the game because of cramping … The first run for the Cardinals came in the first inning on a two-out RBI single by Marcell Ozuna, his team-leading 85th RBI of the season. The hit scored Matt Carpenter, who snapped an 0-of-17 streak with a leadoff single … A sacrifice bunt by Jose Martinez moved him to second, the first sac bunt by Martinez in 552 plate appearances this season … Adams had been 0-of-8 as a pinch-hitter since rejoining the Cardinals in mid-August.

On the mound: A wild streak forced the Cardinals to pull starter John Gant before he could get through the third inning. He allowed a two-out double but then walked three consecutive batters, forcing in a run … After Tyson Ross got out of the jam and worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings, Dakota Hudson took over and struck out the side in the sixth … The Giants tied the game in the seventh off Jordan Hicks, who allowed two hits, walked two (one intentionally) and threw a wild pitch in his one inning of work … John Brebbia also struck out the side in the eighth and Carlos Martinez pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth to earn his fourth save.

Key stat: It was the Cardinals first win at home without hitting a home run since Aug 2; they had lost their last four games at Busch when they did not hit a home run. They are now 7-19 at Busch this season when they did not hit at least one homer.

Worth noting: Steve Turco, who is retiring this year after 37 years with the Cardinals as a manager and instructor in the minor leagues, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Friday night’s game … The organization had all of their minor-league personnel in town the last two days for end of season meetings … Steve Selby, the radio broadcaster for the Memphis Redbirds, will make his major-league debut on Saturday, calling the 4th and 5th innings on the Cardinals radio network. Selby has worked in the minors for 33 years, broadcasting approximately 4,400 games.

Looking ahead: Adam Wainwright, who allowed just two hits in six shutout innings against the Dodgers in his last start, will get the start on Saturday in the second game of the series. A reminder that the game has been changed to a 12:05 p.m. start and will be broadcast by Fox.

Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains

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