SAN FRANCISCO — It was a night that was a year in the making, the culmination of a historic season for Ryan Helsley.
Helsley set a Cardinals franchise record on Friday night, saving his 49th game, in the win over the Giants in the opener of the final series of the year in San Francisco.
The save snapped a tie with Trevor Rosenthal for the record, which Rosenthal had held for the last nine years.
Helsley got a pop out, gave up a single and then struck out the final two batters to complete the save, which secured the Cardinals’ 82nd victory of the year, guaranteeing them a winning record.
Adding in his seven wins to his 49 saves, Helsley has been involved in 56 of those 82 victories.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Lars Nootbaar homered for the second game in a row and drove in two more runs with a triple in the Cardinals’ four-run fourth inning. Nootbaar now leads the team with 16 RBIs in September … Masyn Winn had a single and double, scored twice and drove in a run … Nolan Arenado enjoyed a three-hit night with two singles and a ground-rule double, also collecting an RBI.
On the mound: The Giants scored all three of their runs in the second inning off Miles Mikolas, who worked five innings and picked up the victory … A leadoff walk and double put runners on second and third with nobody out in the third, but Mikolas stranded both runners and he went on to retire nine of the last 11 hitters he faced … John King also stranded a runner at third base in the sixth.
Key stat: Helsley has not allowed an earned run (and only one unearned run) over his last 17 appearances dating back to Aug. 7. In that stretch he has allowed 10 hits, walked three and struck out 24 over 17 2/3 innings.
Worth noting: Matt Carpenter was called out on strikes three times and was ejected by umpire Jacob Metz after his last at-bat in the ninth … Luken Baker rejoined the team after missing the series in Denver on paternity leave to attend the birth of his first child, a daughter, in Texas. Victor Scott II was optioned to Memphis, even though their season is over.
Looking ahead: Andre Pallante will get the start on Saturday in the Cardinals’ next-to-last game of the season.