The Giants have finished four of their six seasons under Farhan Zaidi with a losing record and missed the playoffs five times.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Brendan Donovan hit a solo homer in the third and followed it up with an RBI single two innings later and Alec Burleson drove in three runs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the San Francisco Giants 6-1 on Sunday.

Giants rookie right-hander Hayden Birdsong (5-6) struck out 10 of the initial 15 Cardinals hitters and finished with 11 strikeouts in his 16th start for San Francisco — one off his career high. It marked Birdsong’s second career double-digit strikeout game after fanning 12 at Colorado on July 21.