Giant rally overtakes Cardinals at home

ST. LOUIS -- Jeff Kent hit a tying home run in the eighth inning and Benito Santiago connected for a go-ahead homer in the ninth as the San Francisco Giants rallied for a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

Santiago hit a 3-0 pitch from reliever Dave Veres (3-5) into the left-field seats with one out, helping the Giants overcome a 4-1 deficit.

One inning earlier, Kent hit a 1-2 pitch from reliever Mike Timlin to tie it at 4. Before the home run, Timlin and Cardinals starter Jason Simontacchi combined to retire 14 of the last 15 batters.

Tim Worrell (7-0) got one out for the victory. Robb Nen loaded the bases in the ninth before getting Tino Martinez to ground into double play for his 25th save.

Simontacchi, a 28-year-old rookie continued his string of strong outings by pitching six innings and allowing five hits and three runs. He has 2.48 ERA at home and 3.04 overall.

Barry Bonds singled in the sixth and walked three times, increasing his major league-leading total to 115. He walked 177 times last season and is on pace for 196 this year.

Albert Pujols went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run for the Cardinals, whose four-game winning streak ended.

Pujols is hitting .372 (16-for-42) with six home runs and 15 RBIs in July. Edgar Renteria went 3-for-4 and is now 11-for-16 in his last four games.

Renteria doubled home Pujols to make it 1-all in the second. Pujols singled and went to second on a balk by Livan Hernandez, who threw 120 pitches and struck out nine in 7 1-3 innings. Mike Matheny sinlged in Renteria to make it 2-1.

Pujols made it 4-1 in the third when he hit a 3-2 pitch from Hernandez into the left-field seats with Placido Polanco aboard.

The Giants jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Reggie Sanders. After Bonds walked to lead off the fourth, Sanders hit a home-run, his 12th, into the right-field bleachers to cut the St. Louis lead to 4-3.

Noteworthy

J.D. Drew pinch-hit in the eighth, grounded out and stayed in the game playing right field. Since coming off the disabled list Saturday, Drew has seen action three times. He pinch-hit on Saturday and started Sunday, belting his 12th home run of the season. He has tendinitis in his right knee ... The Cardinals are home for just 42 hours after finishing a five-game road trip. They have another game with the Giants before leaving Thursday for a seven-game road trip ... Bonds has hit just 10 of his 595 career home runs in St. Louis ... Jim Edmonds snapped an 0-for-10 with a sixth inning single.