Only for Guild Members » lot more assertive, a lot more agg

St. Louis pitcher Luke Weaver flirted with perfection Authentic Sam Darnold Jersey , had to overcome a little frustration, and settled for domination.

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 Josh Allen Jersey Elite , 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,” 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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NEW YORK — The Atlanta Braves have fared well against teams with winning records so far this season and this week will test their success.

The first stop for the Braves will be a visit to Yankee Stadium for the opener of a three-game interleague series with the New York Yankees on Monday night.

Atlanta (48-34) heads to New York after completing a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 6-5 victory on Sunday.

Mike Foltynewicz pitched five one-hit innings and the Braves improved to 30-19 against teams with winning records, which is the best mark in the National League. Only the Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros are performing better against winning opponents.

Atlanta begins a stretch of 16 of 18 games against teams with winning records. After visiting Yankee Stadium for the first time since June 2012, the Braves visit Milwaukee for four games next weekend and host the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 13-15.

Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer Sunday. He is 9-for-52 (.173) in his last 12 games.

“It’s coming,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told reporters after Freeman hit his 16th homer of the season. “Somebody’s going to pay. It’s just one of those things that everybody goes through.

“He’s working, and we still have unbelievable confidence in him and what he brings. You feel like he’s going to do something special every time he goes up there.”

The Yankees also will get their first looks at rookie outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. and second baseman Ozzie Albies.

Acuna went 4-for-13 in the weekend series after missing a month with a mild ACL sprain and contusion in his left knee and also a lower back contusion. The 20-year-old is batting .269 with six homers and 15 RBIs in his first 32 games.

Albies enters with a .275 average and on an 11-game hitting streak. During the longest streak of his career, he is batting .431 (22-for-51).

The Yankees own the best home record in the majors at 31-12 and are 26-7 in their last 33 home games. New York also has slugged 77 of its major league-leading 137 homers at home after setting a season high with six in Sunday’s 11-1 rout of the Boston Red Sox.

Aaron Hicks hit three homers and Aaron Judge belted his 22nd Authentic Josh Allen Jersey , rookie Gleyber Torres hit his 15th and Kyle Higashioka delivered his first as the Yankees roughed up David Price.

Anibal Sanchez, who is 3-2 with a 2.68 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts), gets the ball for the Braves. He’s hoping to avoid his third straight loss after allowing six runs and 10 hits in 9 2/3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cincinnati Reds.

Sanchez exited his last start on Tuesday with right calf cramps after throwing a pitch to Cincinnati’s Joey Votto.

Sanchez is making his 271st career start. The first start of his career occurred June 25, 2006, at old Yankee Stadium when he allowed seven hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the Miami Marlins against a lineup featuring Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano.

Including his major league debut, Sanchez is 4-1 with a 3.79 ERA in six career starts against the Yankees. He last faced New York on Aug. 1 with the Detroit Tigers and held the Yankees to two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 4-3 win at Yankee Stadium. It also was his last win with the Tigers.

If Sanchez gives the Braves a chance for a save opportunity in the ninth inning, Arodys Vizcaino could close it out. Vizcaino was placed on the disabled list June 24 with shoulder inflammation, took a rest day Sunday after throwing a side session Saturday and could be activated for the opener.

Vizcaino last pitched June 17. Before going on the DL, he posted a 1.82 ERA Eagles Dallas Goedert Jersey , converted 15 of 17 save opportunities and struck out 33 in 29 2/3 innings in 30 appearances.

Jonathan Loaisiga will make his fourth start since being inserted into the rotation for Masahiro Tanaka (hamstrings). Loaisiga is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in his first three starts.

Two of those starts were scoreless outings as he threw a combined 10 1/ 3 scoreless innings, allowed four hits and fanned 14 in wins over Tampa Bay on June 15 and at Philadelphia last Monday. His other start was June 20 when he allowed three runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings of a 7-5 win over the Seattle Mariners decided on a walk-off homer by Stanton.

“He was a lot more assertive, a lot more aggressive with his fastball and challenging the strike zone with it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We saw a number of really good breaking balls. We saw some good changeups. When he got in some putaway counts, I felt like he did a better job of making it look like a strike out of the hand, which is something you’ve got to be better at here in the big leagues.”

Monday will be the 30th regular-season meeting between the teams, who met in the 1996 and 1999 World Series. The Yankees are 17-12 all-time against the Braves.