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SAN FRANCISCO -- David Freese delivered a crushing hit right after the Giants tied the game, and Jaime Garcia had a lead again when he headed back out to the mound in the bottom of the seventh. Tim Jennings Jersey . Garcia matched his career high with nine strikeouts, Freese hit a go-ahead solo home run in the seventh inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals gave manager Mike Matheny a victory against his old Giants team with a 4-1 win Wednesday night. Freese wont go as far as to say hes back on track at the plate following an 0-for-17 funk, but this is certainly a start. "Thats one way to turn it around a little bit," he said. "Just a big hit for Jaime. He pitched his tail off. Facing this type of team in this type of environment, its nice to help him get a win like that." Buster Posey hit a tying RBI single in the sixth against Garcia (3-2) for San Francisco, which missed multiple scoring chances yet again in what has been the biggest downfall for this bunch. Pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker added a two-run double in the eighth for the Cardinals, who improved to 13-7 on the road. In a matchup of the last two World Series champions, the Giants didnt do enough to back Madison Bumgarner (5-3). He lost his second straight start following a five-start winning streak on a breezy Bay Area night featuring a hovering mist above the field. Garcia, who pitched a three-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Giants on Aug. 22, 2010, in St. Louis, had another memorable performance on the mound -- his nasty off-speed stuff keeping the Giants guessing. "He had it right from the beginning," Matheny said. "He gets going like that, and its going to be fun to watch him." While he allowed nine hits in 7 1-3 innings, Garcia didnt issue a walk for the first time this year and threw an efficient 92 pitches. The lefty also struck out nine San Francisco batters on April 9, 2011. "It was a really tough lineup and place to play, and I was able to stay in control of the game," he said. Jason Motte pitched the ninth for his seventh save in nine opportunities. Slugger Carlos Beltran missed his third straight game for St. Louis with a sore and stiff right knee, but he could be available in Thursday afternoons series finale against his former club. Beltran spent the second half of 2011 with the Giants after a trade from the New York Mets. St. Louis took the lead in the first when Rafael Furcal scored on Allen Craigs fielders choice. Furcal and Freese each had three hits. Freese connected for his eighth home run with a shot into the tunnel area in left field with two outs in the seventh, then doubled in the ninth. Freese also singled in the fourth to snap his hitless streak, helping the Cardinals win consecutive games after they avoided an 0-5 homestand by beating the Chicago Cubs 7-6 on Tuesday. "Im not looking at it like Im finally getting breaks, because Ive been terrible the last week," Freese said. "Its not like Ive been lining balls, this and that. I had a rough week." The Giants squandered chances in the early innings. San Francisco had baserunners reach at least second base in the second, third and fourth innings, stranding runners at third in the second and fourth. Bumgarner had his eight-start home winning streak snapped, a run dating to his last loss here on Aug. 4, 2011, against the Phillies. The lefty missed a chance to move closer to Ron Bryants streak of 10 consecutive home victories in 1972-73. Bumgarner didnt allow a walk for the first time this season, giving up seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. He gave up at least four earned runs for the second straight outing. The Giants made a late lineup change, scratching left fielder Melky Cabrera with a left toe injury. Nate Schierholtz moved into the lineup in right field, with Gregor Blanco shifting to left. Cabrera pinch hit with two outs in the eighth and runners on the corners and grounded out on the first pitch he saw. The Giants were 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and are 6 of 37 (.162) in such situations in three games so far this homestand. "Tonight was probably our worst night, I thought, the at-bats with runners in scoring position," San Francisco skipper Bruce Bochy said. "Were just getting too anxious, too aggressive and really chasing pitches. Their pitcher did a great job. He knew that and he let the guys expand the zone. Bochy even pulled out one of former Cardinals manager Tony La Russas old stops. Bumgarner batted eighth and Emmanuel Burriss in the ninth spot to give the Giants "a couple leadoff hitters, a couple speed guys back-to-back," Bochy said. "I know Tony did it." Bochy did the same thing on May 20, 2010, at Arizona. He hit Tim Lincecum eighth and Andres Torres ninth. Furcal was in an 0-for-9 streak before hitting singles in his first two at-bats. NOTES: There were no walks. ... Pagan has hit safely in 27 of his last 28 games. ... It was 53 degrees with wind and fog at first pitch. ... Giants 3B Joaquin Arias was off after being hit in the left forearm during Tuesdays 5-4 loss to Colorado. ... San Francisco 2B Freddy Sanchez received an epidural in his inflamed lower back and Bochy called it a "setback," but the manager believes Sanchez will return this year. ... The teams play their other four games of the year Aug. 6-9 at Busch Stadium. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina had the night off after playing the previous two games. ... Bumgarner allowed only 10 earned runs in his first 39 innings this season but has given up eight in his last 13 1-3 innings. Charles Tillman Elite Jersey . The top-ranked Swiss dominated with his service in his first match against the 46th-ranked Paire, and lifted his record to 65-9 this season. Lance Briggs Elite Jersey . "Its nice to come in here with a smile," the Houston manager said after watching his team break a season-long nine-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. http://www.chicagobearsgears.com/brian-urlacher-jersey/ . The seventh-seeded Cornet, who is ranked 73rd, earned her second career title after winning in Budapest, Hungary in 2008 and is now 2-3 in WTA finals. She lost the final in Strasbourg last month. Brian Urlacher Orange Jersey . Born and raised in Weyburn, Sask., Labatte played his university football with the Regina Rams before beginning a four-year stint with the CFLs Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Jay Cutler Womens Jersey . No sooner did Aramis Ramirez return from a two-game absence than hot-hitting Jonathan Lucroy joined six teammates on the disabled list.Georges St-Pierre is about to walk in to the Bell Center in the best shape of his life. If he beats Carlos Condit at UFC 154 in Montreal with this much time off, and the lingering thought of absolute annihilation of his knee if something goes wrong, then who is next? Here are the facts. GSPs chin is, and always will be, in question. He hasnt been hit many times and when he did get contact from Matt Serra, he lost his title. That shot would have KOd a normal man. Is that an indicator that he has an “Achilles chin”? NO. St-Pierre normally doesnt get hit, because he controls the fight start to finish. His defence is impenetrable, or as Mike Tyson would say, “My style is impetuous. My defence is impregnable, and Im just ferocious. I want your heart”. Well, Mike was kind of right in this instance. St-Pierres defence is what gets him wins. He never exposes himself, he rarely misses a take down, and there is almost never a mistake in his game plan. In short, GSP is a boring fighter, but he is a champion. He is an athlete and not a mindless brawler. That is what makes the fight with Condit interesting.I dont think there is really any chance of Condit beating St-Pierre. To take his title away, GSP needs to be picked apart. His game needs to be stopped and someone has to stop him from imposing his will. Can Condit stop the takedown? I dont see it. Can he avoid the back kick or superman punch? GSP is faster and more athletic. So once again, the punchers chance is the only thing St-Pierre has to worry about. Serra landed the one-in-a-thousand shot and GSP has since changed his game to make sure no one else will. Both St-Pierre and Condit have the same reach at 76 inches, so its not like Condit will be trying to throw that big bomb upper cut, or really work St-Pierre from the outside. So what do I think Condit can do? Well like most of us, if we were in the cage with St-Pierre, would get taken down, and hope he hits his head on your knee on the way in. Not taking anything away from Condit, he is a highly talented fighter, but GSP has turned himself into a takedown machine. That machine stays the course, and controls fights. Condits only chance is in a striking match. The longer he stays standing, the more likely St-Pierre is to take one on the chin. So of course, GSP and his coaches will “Rush” this to the mat.Now comes the fun conversation - the prospect of a fantasy match at Dallas Cowboys stadium against the Spider himself, middleweight champion Anderson Silva. This is the only fight on the horizon that I see St-Pierre having problems with. Silva is faster, his striking is on a level all of its own, annd his ground game is perfect to submit GSP. Brandon Marshall White Jersey. Lets talk about striking. If you watch GSP, he has three go-to strikes. Back kick, superman punch, and a solid rear leg kick. He wins fights with those because they are so fast that they score. Once a fighter gets hit a few times, they begin to open up to a takedown. The takedown is St-Pierres bread and butter. Once on the ground (usually on the first shot) GSP controls the fight. This is where St-Pierre gets his bad rap. Of his 22 wins, nine are by decision. In fact, five of his last six wins were by decision. St-Pierre hasnt earned a stoppage in three years. Then there is Silva. He hasnt lost in six years and has 15 stoppage victories in his last 17 fights. Silva finishes fights. Remember how I said Condit (or anyone) would need to pick apart St-Pierre to win? Silva can do just that. He can make GSP miss, both on strikes and on takedowns. Once he makes GSP miss, he can target his chin. That means one very dangerous thing for St-Pierre. The fight could end on the first takedown attempt. That is not how GSP would want to be remembered, but the possibility is there. If it didnt end there, it would end as soon as Silva found his target.The difference in the fighters is this - GSP is an athlete. He uses all his speed to secure takedowns and control his opponent on the ground. However, Silva is a fighter. He is born and bred in Curitiba - a tough city, with strong roots in the origins of MMA. He has spent time with the best of the best perfecting his striking. He stalks with deadly accuracy, and wins fights with flash knockouts. Silva isnt impressive for his ability to knock out his opponents, he is impressive because he seems to do it at will. Add to that a size advantage over St-Pierre and this fight really seems to be a lock for Silva.So here is my pitch to you, and I would love to hear back from the fans. I say scrap the St-Pierre vs. Silva super fight. Give me Jon Jones vs. Silva. I would actually pay big money to see that fight. St-Pierre is a champion athlete, but Jones and Silva are champion fighters. All three men deserve respect for their talents, but only two get my hard earned money for a pay-per-view.First things first though, St-Pierre needs to control Condit, stay away from his power punch, and win a 25-minute decision over the interim champion. Thats my call. It will be a decision win. St-Pierre wins fights, he doesnt finish them. Dont agree? Well stats dont lie and five of his last six were in the hands of the judges. Good thing the Bell Centre card has a lot of other fights that promise to be explosive. More on that in my next installment! ' ' '
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