The San Francisco Giants scored first against the reeling St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the NLCS, after leadoff base hits from Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro turned into a swinging-bunt RBI from Pablo Sandoval. But the Cardinals' struggling defense recovered enough for Pete Kozma to get an out on a bad hop, and Kyle Lohse struck out Hunter Pence to end the threat. Depending on how you score momentum, the 1-0 first inning was either a short-term Cardinals disaster or a medium-term Cardinals moral victory.
Whatever it was, they'll need to reach Matt Cain quickly. The Cardinals' moribund bats could come back to life in a hurry; if they don't, one run might be all Cain needs, and if they do one run won't mean much at all.
The Cardinals will send Yadier Molina, David Freese, and Daniel Descalso out in the top of the second inning, with Kozma and Lohse on the hook for run-scoring if one of them reaches. Kozma and Descalso's hot starts prove that it doesn't matter who does the hitting for the Cards, so long as somebody does it.