Helsley gets record 49th save, Cardinals beat Giants 6-3

Lars Nootbaar homered and tripled to drive in three runs, Ryan Helsley closed for his franchise-record 49th save and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3 on Friday night.

The Cardinals have won five of six and secured their 23rd winning season in the last 25 years. The Giants’ loss means they will not finish above .500 for the third straight season since winning a franchise-record 107 games in 2021.

Helsley struck out two in the ninth for his majors-leading 49th save, setting a single-season record for the Cardinals in the process to surpass Trevor Rosenthal’s mark set in 2015. Helsley, who has not allowed an earned run in his last 17 games, moved two saves ahead of Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase for the major league lead.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (10-11) allowed three runs in five innings. 

LHP Blake Snell (5-3, 3.12 ERA) is scheduled to start the penultimate game of the season on Saturday for the Giants, opposite RHP Andre Pallante (8-8, 3.71 ERA) for the Cardinals.




(AP Photo Tony Avelar)