Ryan Vogelsong Stifles Cardinals; Giants Force Game Seven

Players of the Day for Sunday, October 21, 2012

National League

NLCS: San Francisco 5 St. Louis 1 - For the second straight game, St. Louis bats were silenced by superior San Francisco starting pitching, on this occasion the arm of Ryan Vogelsong overmatching Cardinal hitters.

Ryan Vogelsong:
7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 K

Notching his second win in the championship series, Vogelsong set a career high in strikeouts, fanning nine while allowing just four hits, a walk and one earned run over seven solid innings.

Pitching in his first post-season, Vogelsong is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts. He was the winner in game two, a 7-1 win for the Giants.

Three Giant relievers finished up, with Sergio Romo getting the final three outs in order, forcing a game seven Monday in San Francisco.

The Giants scored a run in the first, four in the second and added another in the eighth inning, the crucial blow coming from Marco Scutaro, who doubled home a pair of runs in the second off St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter.

Carpenter lasted only four innings, giving up six hits and five runs, though only two were earned.

The Cardinals will send Kyle Lohse to the mound for game seven against Matt Cain for the Giants. The same pair started game three, with Lohse earning the 3-1 win. Game time is 8:07 pm EDT, the winner advancing to the World Series, which begins Wednesday at the home of the National League entrant.