Buster Posey homers as Giants strengthen hold on wild card with 8-2 win against Cardinals

SAN FRANCISCO - All that talk about Buster Posey’s second-half power drought was answered with one mighty swing in a September game that mattered, and his two-run homer helped the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 Friday night in a matchup of playoff contenders.

Posey drove in four runs and the Giants stayed four games back of the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, who won at Arizona. San Francisco maintained its one-game lead on the New York Mets for the league’s top wild card, moving three games up on the Cardinals in the wild-card standings.

Left-hander Matt Moore (4-4) allowed two runs over five innings, struck out four and walked three while facing the Cardinals for the first time in his career. He won for the fourth time over five starts in his ninth outing since joining San Francisco in a trade with Tampa Bay.

Posey was all smiles in the dugout after his fourth-inning drive, his first home run in 185 at-bats and exactly two months - he last connected on July 16 at San Diego. He also had a two-run single and followed up his four-hit game Thursday night with three more.

Brandon Belt hit a two-run double to highlight San Francisco’s six-run third. Posey singled in a pair of runs that inning, when all the runs were unearned off rookie right-hander Luke Weaver (1-3).

For the second consecutive day, Giants manager Bruce Bochy gave his team a late report time to the ballpark and went without batting practice. This time, on the heels of Thursday’s 6-2 victory behind Johnny Cueto’s five-hitter.

“A couple days off the field will serve them well,” Bochy said.

It proved the right call again. After a demoralizing three-game sweep by San Diego earlier this week, San Francisco suddenly looks like a playoff team again. The Giants have had World Series-winning seasons in every even year this decade: 2010, ’12 and ’14.

Weaver’s night was done after 22/3 innings and he is winless in four starts since beating Oakland on Aug. 26. He allowed five hits, struck out four and walked two.

Yadier Molina drove in two runs for the Cardinals, including a bases-loaded walk in the fifth.

Denard Span hit eighth for the Giants again after his strong performance, with a two-run single among his two hits in that spot a night earlier.

NOTES

A fan ran on the field in the top of the ninth and a member of security who slid approaching the man had to be helped off the field with an injury.

Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday will face live pitching today with the hope he still might return from a broken right thumb as St. Louis makes a playoff push. Holliday hasn’t played since Aug. 11, when he was hit by a pitch in an 11-inning loss to the Cubs. He had surgery to insert a screw for the fracture.

The Giants activated OF Gregor Blanco from the 15-day disabled list after he missed 22 games with a right shoulder impingement.

Bochy has been looking to rest Posey and will aim to give him a break in Sunday afternoon’s series finale following a night game Saturday.