SAN FRANCISCO -- Jhonny Peralta knew he hit it well. He didnt know how well until the ball landed in the seats. Peraltas two-run homer produced the first runs scored by St. Louis in its first at-bat since June 18, a span of 14 games, leading the Cardinals past the reeling San Francisco Giants 7-2 on Thursday. "Id heard from the guys that you need to hit it hard to get it out here," Peralta said. Carlos Martinez (2-3) earned his second win as a starter and added a two-run single for the Cardinals, who won their second straight after losing three in a row. Martinez allowed a run and five hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out six. "Weve had our struggles at the plate," Peralta said. "It was good to start it off in the first inning." Madison Bumgarner (9-6) fell to 0-3 over his past four home starts after allowing five runs -- four earned -- and six hits over five innings. He walked three and struck out six. Bumgarner also drove in a run for the Giants, who have lost 17 of 22 and fell out of first place in the NL West. "You always want to play at home and I havent pitched very good here all year," Bumgarner said. "I dont know what it is. You cant give in, you have to keep grinding." Help could be on the way. The Giants optioned first baseman Adam Duvall to Triple-A Fresno after the game in anticipation of recalling Brandon Belt in time for Fridays game in San Diego. "Hes somebody we like having out there," Bumgarner said. "Its not going to do anything but help us." Angel Pagan may return to the Giants lineup early next week, giving them some semblance of order at the top of the lineup. Matt Carpenter continued ripping Giants pitching, extending his hitting streak against them to 11 games with a 2-for-4 effort. He has a .519 (28 for 54) career average against the Giants and has hit safely in 18 of his 20 games, including the post-season, against them. "Its one of those crazy things," Carpenter said. "Luck has been on my side so far I guess." Yadier Molina added three hits and Oscar Tavares, John Jay and Shane Robinson each drove in a run for the Cardinals. Peraltas first-inning home run, after Carpenter drew a walk, put St. Louis ahead to stay. "I was able to work the walk and Jhonny hit the home run," Carpenter said. "That kind of set the tone and we found a way to pile it on." Bumgarner drove in a run for the Giants in the third, but then gave up three runs in the fourth -- two on a single from Martinez. Robinson, pinch hitting for Martinez in the sixth, tripled home a run. Tavares added an RBI in the seventh. The Giants loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Martinez got Buster Posey on a swinging strike three to end the threat. In the sixth, Tyler Colvin walked, Adam Duvall singled and Brandon Crawford punched a single into right field. An error allowed Colvin to score. Sam Freeman, Seth Maness and Jason Motte combined to keep the Giants at bay. NOTES: Giants INF Joe Panik batted second, where he hit for Triple-A Fresno, as manager Bruce Bochy tweaked the lineup. "He has some sense of comfort there," Bochy said. ... OF Hunter Pence hit lead off and OF Gregor Blanco was dropped to eighth. ... INF Marco Scutaro continues to make progress and if hes fine after playing for the second straight day for the Arizona Rookie League Giants, he could be elevated to Fresno by Sunday. . RHP Matt Cain (1-6, 4.38) pitches for the Giants when they open a three-game series at San Diego on Friday. Hes 7-13 lifetime against the Padres. ... RHP Lance Lynn (8-6, 3.38) pitches for the Cardinals when they open a three-game set with the Miami Marlins in St. Louis. Hes 2-0 with a 5.79 ERA against the Marlins. ... Cardinals OF Allen Craig was given a day off. He was hitting .176 on the road trip. ... Cardinals RHP Joe Kelly will make two more rehab starts and return after the All-Star Break. . 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh met with Cardinals manager Mike Matheny after the game. Tandon Doss Jersey Store . - Tiger Woods only made it through 10 holes Thursday — this time because of the weather, not his back. Larry Jordan Jersey Store . The Raptors have to get through the pesky New York Knicks Wednesday at Madison Square Garden and can lock up the third spot in the Eastern Conference with a win or a Chicago loss in Charlotte. https://www.chinacheapjerseys.net/. The 27-year-old forward has informed the Leafs that he will be unable to play in Monday nights home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. John Shonk Jersey Store . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. Brandon Jones Jersey Store . -- DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and 16 rebounds to help the Sacramento Kings snap a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Chicago Bulls 99-70 on Monday night.[Credit: National Post] But here, two decades later, we have labour peace and the sport is perhaps at the peak of its international visibility and popularity. So how should Bettman and his owners spend the summer? Perhaps they should learn from the successes of this postseason, and tweak the game accordingly. The NHL playoffs were fast skating, hard hitting hockey highlighted by skill and spectacular goaltending. And there was but one fight, and not even the most ardent supporter of fighting in hockey could argue fisticuffs were missed. I understand the regular season is a long slog through winter, but do we want a sport where unnecessary violence breaks up the monotony? Especially when weve been witness to the majesty of the sport in its absence? Im not saying take fighting out of the game, but Colton Orr and George Parros are unnecessary elements of the sport.[Credit: ESPN] The hockey entity most in need of this summer break is the expansive community of punditry, from the media (both mainstream and not, though the line between the two becomes more and more blurred with each passing season) to the social media inclined fan. On Monday I witnessed an obsessive and rhetorically flawed argument on Twitter over the rumoured re-signing of Montreal Canadiens forward Dale Weise. Was he signed? Should he be signed? Was the term good for the cap? Who did and did not celebrate his acquisition from the Canucks for Raphael Diaz. French media versus English media versus fan versus blogger, all desperately lacking humility in their arguments. When the Habs officially announced a deal on a two-year contract extension with Weise Tuesday morning (for the exact term and dollar amount reported and endlessly disseminated Monday) the futile aand superfluous argument began anew.dddddddddddd I mean, over a fourth line winger? Paul DiPietro never received this kind of attention. Neither did Weises concussion, but thats a story the media will ignore another day.[Credit: NY Times] While social media and universal web access has taken the discourse to an inclusive realm, it has created an obsessive and pathologically invested fanbase and a media that stretches itself thin to fulfill the 24-hour new cycle. Take a breath folks. Go outside. Do something extraordinary. Expand your horizons. Go love up on a Bruins fan. Take a day at the beach. Spend a week without checking hockeydb.com or capgeek.com. Leave the sport alone for a few minutes. Itll still be there when you get back.The seasons not quite over yet. This week the NHLs 30 teams will consider buyouts to prepare their caps for next season. On June 22nd the 2014-15 schedule will be released so that we can all plan our November Saturdays accordingly. On the 24th, the NHL Awards ceremony takes place, where scarred players freshly relieved of their playoff beards wonder quietly who George Stroumboulopoulos is. The draft takes place on the weekend of the 27th in Philadelphia, which will ignite the hotstove and fuel dreams of parades and revelry. July 1st, Canada Day, a day we should all be out drinking Labatt 50 in the sun and launching bottle rockets recklessly into the night, finds much of the hockey world inside watching TV and waiting to see which albatross of a contract will be bought out in the summer of 2018. And then nothing until September, beautiful autumn, summer fading into the promise a new season, when all teams in first place, except the Oilers, who will be tied with the Flames for 30th. ' ' '