Buster Posey, Tim Hudson help Giants roll past St. Louis Cardinals

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Posted: 06/01/2014 02:29:58 PM PDT

Updated: 06/01/2014 02:33:24 PM PDT

ST. LOUIS -- Like the rest of the National League managers, Bruce Bochy will at some point this month make a call to St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny to discuss All-Star selections.

Bochy has a unique problem, though. Last year's All-Star manager is not exactly sure how to whittle down the list of his players he believes should be on Matheny's side July 15 in Minneapolis. The Giants improved to 37-20 with an 8-0 win at Busch Stadium on Sunday, and as always, the contributions came from up and down the roster.

'I don't have one guy or a couple guys carrying this group,' Bochy said. 'It's a good thing. I hope because of how we've been playing, a lot of guys will be considered. It's a tribute to how well we're playing together.'

The box score was full of standouts Sunday, most notably Tim Hudson, who made his All-Star case in person with seven shutout innings as Matheny watched from the top step. Hudson gave up just three hits while completing his second straight start of seven innings and no runs. He has a 1.75 ERA, the second-lowest mark in the Majors behind Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto (1.68).

After missing three games with lower back tightness, Buster Posey paced the lineup with three hits, two runs and an RBI. Brandon Crawford drove in two and Gregor Blanco reached base four times in his first career start in the fifth spot.

In the latest sign of living right, the Giants inserted Joaquin Arias into the lineup just over an hour before first pitch because Michael Morse has a sore foot -- and Arias had his first multi-hit game of the season and drove in three runs. The utilityman had two RBIs in the first 56 games. Every position player reached base in the first two innings and seven of eight got on at least twice.

The Giants hit around against Lance Lynn in the first inning, with a little help from Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong. With the Giants up 1-0, two runners on and one out, Wong booted a potential double-play ball from Blanco. The Giants would go on to score three more runs on a groundout by Crawford and two-run single by Arias. That was more than enough for Hudson, but the Giants kept adding on. They scored 23 runs while taking three of four from the Cardinals.

For more on the Giants, see Alex Pavlovic's Giants Extra blog at http://ift.tt/1eY3IDU. Follow him on Twitter at http://ift.tt/Q42sCv.