St. Louis pitcher Luke Weaver flirted with perfection Youth Mike Remmers 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 Youth Danny Shelton Jersey ,” 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, 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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Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Saturday’s sweltering conditions at Wrigley Field were the worst he’s experienced during a major league game.

The Minnesota Twins were in no position to disagree.

Minnesota’s Eddie Rosario Youth Jason McCourty Jersey , Bobby Wilson and Max Kepler all left early because of heat illness on a scorching afternoon, and the Cubs beat the Twins 14-9.

Rosario homered in the top of the fifth inning, then was pulled from left field shortly after fielding a hit by Anthony Rizzo in the bottom half. The Cubs said it was 96 degrees at the time with a heat index of 107 – that’s a calculation of how hot it actually feels, with the humidity factored in.

”That was a pretty brutal day,” Maddon said. ”If you put that on AstroTurf, that would have been like the worst ever.”

There was a short break in the sixth after Wilson drew a walk. A couple of cups of water were brought out for him to sip and douse himself to cool off. Wilson eventually scored and was replaced at catcher after the inning ended with the score tied at 9.

”I just couldn’t catch my breath,” he said. ”My heart was fluttering. I felt dizzy. Started getting a headache. Just couldn’t even hold a conversation in the dugout.”

All three Twins players were treated with IVs.

Jason Heyward had four of the Cubs’ 20 hits, Ben Zobrist had three RBIs and Chicago had a pair of five-run innings. The Cubs rallied from 3-0 and 7-4 deficits and have scored at least 10 runs in three straight games for the first time since April 2003.

Albert Almora Jr. had three hits and drove in two runs as the Cubs won their third in a row. He exited in the fifth after experiencing leg cramps related to dehydration.

Joe Mauer had two hits and three RBIs for the Twins.

Plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt worked with a towel draped around his neck and frequently left the field between innings.

”It was just tough Youth Trent Brown Jersey ,” Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. ”We couldn’t keep them off base. There were a lot of singles. They kept hitting them in the right spot.”

Chicago broke open a tie game with a five-run seventh.

David Bote led off with a walk and Ian Happ doubled off reliever Trevor Hildenberger (1-2). It was Chicago’s 15th hit to that point – and first extra-base hit despite the wind blowing out.

”Home runs are pretty cool,” Almora said, ”but the way we produced runs today was special.”

After pinch-hitter Kyle Schwarber was intentionally walked to load the bases, Heyward hit a soft liner that just scooted over the head of shortstop Ehire Adrianza – with the infield playing in – for an RBI single and a 10-9 lead Baez hit a grounder up the middle, just out of Adrianza’s reach with the infield playing in, for two more runs.

Justin Wilson (2-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.

STRONG DEBUT

Willians Astudillo, primarily a catcher in the minors, made his major league debut – replacing Rosario – and wound up playing center field for the Twins Youth Tre'Quan Smith Jersey , his first time at that spot as a pro. He hit an RBI single in his first at-bat.

”I just went out and had fun,” Astudillo said through a translator. ”It’s just great to be here.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: CF Byron Buxton (fractured left big toe) has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester since June 19 and there’s no timetable for when he’ll be activated from the DL. Buxton was hitting .206 with a homer and four RBIs in nine games with Rochester before Saturday. If he continues to struggle, there’s a chance he could be optioned to Rochester when his rehab assignment ends on July 8.

Cubs: RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (right shoulder inflammation) threw 19 pitches and got two outs during a rehab outing with Triple-A Iowa on Friday. Maddon said the reports were positive and that his ”velocity was normal.” Edwards is expected to pitch again either Sunday or Monday.

UP NEXT

LHP Jon Lester (10-2, 2.18 ERA) opens the July schedule after winning all five of his June starts, compiling a 1.13 ERA during that stretch. RHP Lance Lynn (5-6, 4.81) starts the finale of the three-game series for the Twins.