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ST. LOUIS -- Michael Morse rewarded his manager for giving him a rare day off. Morse homered and drove in three runs and Pablo Sandoval homered and scored twice to propel the San Francisco Giants to a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series. "It looked like the day off served him well," said manager Bruce Bochy, who sat Morse for the first time this season Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs. "A home run and that big hit off of one of the more dominant closers in the game with the power arm that he has." The Giants, at the start of a seven-game trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati, have won seven of eight. The Cardinals have dropped three of four to start their nine-game home stand. Gregor Blanco scored from second on Angel Pagans single to centre to tie the score at 4-all in the eighth. Third base coach Tim Flannery initially held Blanco at third because of centre fielder Peter Bourjos strong arm. But Blanco scored when the throw bounced on the home plate side of the mound and past three Cardinals, including Carlos Martinez (0-3), who was in front of catcher Yadier Molina rather than backing up the throw. Pagan moved up to second on the throw. Trevor Rosenthal came in after Martinez intentionally walked Sandoval, but Morse doubled just past a diving Bourjos to drive in Pagan and Sandoval and give the Giants a 6-4 lead. "I knew he was going to come with something hard," Morse said. "I just tried to be short. I just tried to touch something." Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Martinez stopped when he saw Blanco stayed at third. He stabbed at the throw from Bourjos, keeping Molina from making the catch and allowing the ball to go to the screen. "Yaddy never was able to see the ball," Matheny said. "As soon as that balls hit, they all know, theyve got to get behind the catcher. He was in the wrong spot and it ended up hurting." Javier Lopez (1-0) got two groundouts in relief of Ryan Vogelsong for his first win since Sept. 22, 2013, at the New York Yankees. Sergio Romo gave up a run on Matt Carpenters two-out single, but held on for his 17th save in 19 chances. Romo has surrendered four runs in the past three games and had his ERA rise to 3.52. Morse, in his first season with the Giants, has nine hits in his past 16 at-bats, with five doubles, a triple and the home run. Hes driven in eight during that five-game span and has a team-high 37 RBIs for the year. "Were just playing," he said. "The mentality we have and the fun were having, I think winning is contagious and we love to win. Were just going to keep going at it." Vogelsong allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five in 6 1-3 innings. Sandovals eighth homer of the season tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth inning. The third baseman has an RBI in each of the past nine games. Hes the first Giant to do that since Barry Bonds in 2000. Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia went seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out seven and has yet to issue a walk this season. He was in line for the victory after Allen Craig hit his sixth homer of the season and second in three games off Vogelsong in the bottom of the sixth. "We definitely had a bead on that game," Craig said. "It felt like we were going to win it, but thats baseball. We didnt make enough plays." Vogelsong got into trouble in the fourth when the Cardinals loaded the bases with none out on Matt Hollidays single and consecutive walks to Craig and Molina. Jhonny Peralta, batting .111 (5 of 45) with runners in scoring position, grounded into a double play, plating Holliday. John Jay drove in Craig with a single to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead. Morse tied the score at 1-1 with his ninth homer of the season, a 442-foot blast to left centre to lead off the second. Brandon Hicks scored on Blancos single to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. St. Louis snapped Vogelsongs scoreless streak at 13 2-3 innings with a run in the first. Craigs ground-rule double brought home Carpenter, who singled to lead off and stole second with two outs. NOTES: Carpenters first-inning single extended his NL-best hitting streak to 11 games. ... The Giants improved to 9-14 when their opponents score first. ... Holliday has reached base safely in all 25 home games. . San Francisco C Buster Posey didnt play because of an ongoing back issue. Bochy said he is day to day. ... St. Louis 1B Matt Adams sat for the second consecutive night with a stiff left calf, though he was available as a pinch hitter. . The Cardinals entered the game without a home run off Vogelsong in 68 at-bats, and all but three of their 24 hits were for singles. The Giants had just one homer off Garcia in 66 at-bats, but seven of their 19 hits went for extra bases. . Cardinals prospect Tim Cooney had a no-hitter broken up with two outs in ninth Thursday for Triple-A Memphis. He settled for one-hitter. . St. Louis is set to start Adam Wainwright (8-2, 1.67) against San Franciscos Madison Bumgarner (6-3, 3.15) on Friday night. Cheap Running Shoes Wholesale . - Rookie Tesho Akindele scored three goals and Fabian Castillo added two in FC Dallas 5-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night. Wholesale Running Shoes Australia . Cavaliers shooting guard Craig Ehlo makes a solid play on the ball, but still Jordan hits the amazing shot. http://www.cheaprunningshoesaustralia.com/. Here at TSN.ca we will take a look back at the season by bringing together a panel of experts to help pick the best 50 players of the season. Cheap Running Shoes Online . The 18-time champions, who havent won the title since 1990, moved two points behind Arsenal after the leaders were stunned 6-3 at Manchester City on Saturday. Defending champion Manchester United trails Arsenal by 10 points after winning 3-0 at Aston Villa to avoid a third successive league loss. Cheap Running Shoes Online Outlet . This week they discuss the Philadelphia 76ers, Gregg Popovich, Royal and Ancient Golf Club and Bill Belichick.CALGARY - Mitchell Moroz scored his 26th goal of the season in overtime and had two assists to lead the Eastern Conference leading Edmonton Oil Kings over the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 in Western Hockey League action on Sunday. Henrik Samuelsson tied the game at 2-2 in the second period and added two assists, and Dysin Mayo also scored for Edmonton (34-13-1). Jake Virtanen and Connor Rankin scored for the Hitmen (31-12-6). Tristan Jarry made 20 saves for the win while Calgarys Chris Driedger stopped 24 shots in the losing effort. --- WINTERHAWKS 6 SILVERTIPS 2 EVERETT, Wash. -- Oliver Bjorkstrand scored a hat trick and added an assist as Portland toppled the Silvertips. Chase De Leo, Keegan Iverson, and Brendan Leipsic each had a goal for the Winterhawks (33-12-5), who racked up 39 penalty minutes on 11 infractionss.dddddddddddd Paul Bittner and Taylor Leier chipped in with two assists apiece. Kohl Bauml and Joshua Winquist replied for the Silvertips (25-17-8). They took 10 penalties totalling 37 minutes. Brendan Burke made 27 saves for the win. Everett goaltender Austin Lotz stopped 32 shots in defeat. --- THUNDERBIRDS 4 ROCKETS 1 KENT, Wash. -- Taran Kozun made 33 saves and Seattle scored two power-play goals to topple the Western Conference-leading Rockets. Roberts Lipsbergs and Shea Theodore both scored on the man advantage, while Mitch Elliot and Jaimen Yakubowski scored even-strength goals for the Thunderbirds (31-15-4). Tyrell Goulbourne replied with a short-handed goal for Kelowna (40-7-2), who racked up 32 penalty minutes on 12 infractions. Jordan Cooke stopped 34 shots in the losing effort. ' ' '