Vogelsong, Giants force a Game 7 with 6-1 win

• The Giants even the NLCS with the Cardinals
• Vogelsong set a career-high nine strikeouts
• Carpenter tied a career-postseason high for runs allowed with 5 (2 earned)

SAN FRANCISCO – The chant started in the very first inning: "Vogey! Vogey!''

The stoked sellout crowd may have sensed Ryan Vogelsong was on the way to having a special night, or perhaps it was simply rewarding him for helping get the San Francisco Giants this far.

After all, it had been Vogelsong who turned the tide in the Division Series after the Cincinnati Reds won the first two games at AT&T Park, holding them to one run in five innings and allowing the Giants to launch their remarkable comeback.

And it had been Vogelsong who shut down the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, preventing the Giants from again hitting the road winless.

So it made sense to expect another outstanding performance from the Japanese League refuge, whose story was even more remarkable than anything the Giants have done in this amazing postseason.

And did he deliver.

Facing a win-or-else game, Vogelsong yielded four hits and one run in seven innings as San Francisco won its fifth elimination game of the playoffs, notching a 6-1 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday to force a decisive Game 7 tonight.

"He's a warrior,'' said third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who drove in the final run in a Giants' four-run rally that put them ahead 5-0 in the second. "He gets on the mound and he forgets about everything else.''

Vogelsong set a career high with nine strikeouts, did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth and walked one as he lowered his playoff ERA to 1.42.

He came out blazing against a Cardinals offense missing third-place hitter Matt Holliday, who was scratched with lower-back tightness, striking out five in the first two innings and pumping his fastball up to 94 mph, a bit higher than usual.

"I feed off the fans in this stadium,'' Vogelsong said. "They were into it early and the adrenaline is going and it puts miles per hour on your fastball.''

Vogelsong was once highly regarded Giants prospect who got traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2001, spent most of the 2002 season recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery and later bounced from the rotation to the bullpen until getting released in October 2006.

Three years in Japan brought him financial stability but little success, to the point Vogelsong was banished to the minors.

He returned stateside in 2010 but registered a 4.81 ERA at two minor-league stops, getting released again.

After excelling in the Venezuelan winter league, Vogelsong signed a minor-league contract with the Giants in January 2011 and earned a chance back in the majors after a four-year hiatus when Barry Zito got hurt.

Vogelsong, now 35, pitched so well that he was named to the NL All-Star team, and this season he backed it up by going 14-9 with a 3.37 ERA.

"I just believe that God had a plan for me this whole time,'' Vogelsong said. "And he's shining down on me right now.''

Vogelsong said he actually had better stuff in Game 2, when he also limited the Cardinals to one run in seven innings of a 7-1 win, but on Sunday he was pitching in more dire circumstances. By losing the first two in St. Louis, the Giants had fallen into a 3-1 hole from which only six of 33 teams have ever climbed out in an LCS.

Barry Zito's masterpiece in Friday's 5-0 win sent the series back to San Francisco, and Vogelsong and company made sure there would be a Game 7.

"Vogelsong, that's the heart and soul right there,'' outfielder Hunter Pence said. "He's had such a long journey, such an incredible story, for that moment to be a part of, it's something you can't describe, but it's one of the happiest feelings I've ever had.''

The Giants, who put together their fourth four-run rally of the series in the second inning, forced a winner-take-all game featuring both teams' aces.

San Francisco's Matt Cain, who threw a perfect game this season and started the All-Star Game, will oppose fellow 16-game winner Kyle Lohse in tonight's Game 7. The winner of this series pitting the last two World Series champions will face the Detroit Tigers for the championship, beginning Wednesday.

Sunday's was the first elimination game the Giants won at home, after taking three in Cincinnati and one in St. Louis. They outscored the opposition 27-9 in those games.

"We're a bunch of scrappy ballplayers,'' closer Sergio Romo said. "We don't really know how to quit, don't know how to die. I don't really want to go home yet.''

San Francisco ace Matt Cain, who threw a perfect game this season and started the All-Star Game, will oppose fellow 16-game winner Kyle Lohse in tonight's Game 7. The winner of this series pitting the last two World Series champions will face the Detroit Tigers for the championship, beginning Wednesday.

For the third time this series, the Giants turned a key error into a big inning. They led 1-0 and had runners at the corners with one out in the second when shortstop Pete Kozma mishandled Vogelsong's grounder. A run came in, and Marco Scutaro and Sandoval followed with hits that built the margin to 5-0.

"We've had a number of losses this season that felt like we've been kicked in the gut as we're walking off the field,'' Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "And what I have admired about this club is they show up tomorrow the exact same guys that they showed up today.''

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter, who came into the series with a 10-2 career record in the postseason, took his second loss by giving up five runs – two earned – in four innings. He posted identical numbers in Game 2.

By besting Carpenter for the second time in this series, Vogelsong helped the Giants push the NLCS to the limit for the first time since 2006, when the Cardinals beat the New York Mets.

"We're 27 outs away from being in the World Series,'' Scutaro said, "and that for me is priceless.''