ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — The San Francisco Giants rode an early offensive surge and a strong start from Blade Tidwell to a 10-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium III.

San Francisco wasted little time against St. Louis right-hander Andre Pallante. Drew Gilbert reached on a fielding error by shortstop Masyn Winn to open the game. Bryce Eldridge followed with a two-run homer to right-center field, his 17th of the season, giving the Giants a quick lead. Jonah Cox then reached on catcher’s interference by Leo Bernal, moved to third on Jung Hoo Lee’s groundout to second, and scored on Turner Hill’s single to right. The Giants led 3-0 before Pallante retired Drew Cavanaugh on a groundout to end the inning.

St. Louis answered in the bottom of the first. Alec Burleson hit a line-drive homer to right-center field, his 23rd, trimming the deficit to 3-1. Tidwell avoided further damage by getting Jordan Walker to line out sharply to left fielder Turner Hill.

Tidwell settled in from there. He retired the Cardinals in order in the second, getting Leo Bernal to fly out to right fielder Grant McCray, Thomas Saggese to fly out to McCray, and Nathan Church to pop out to third baseman Osleivis Basabe in foul territory.

The Giants broke the game open in the third. Jonah Cox reached on a soft bunt single to first baseman Alec Burleson. Jung Hoo Lee doubled to right field, sending Cox to third. After Basabe grounded out to first, Hill grounded out to shortstop Masyn Winn, scoring Cox and moving Lee to third. Drew Cavanaugh walked, and McCray singled to center field to score Lee, with Cavanaugh advancing to third. Christian Koss then singled to right field, driving in both Cavanaugh and McCray. San Francisco led 7-1.

St. Louis got one run back in the bottom of the third. Winn singled to right, Jose Fermin was hit by a pitch, and Bryan Torres walked to load the bases. Ivan Herrera followed with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Winn. Tidwell then struck out Burleson and Walker swinging to end the threat and keep the Giants ahead 7-2.

San Francisco added another run in the fourth. Eldridge walked, moved to second on Lee’s groundout, and scored on Basabe’s double to right field. Tidwell worked a clean bottom of the fourth, retiring Bernal on a groundout and Saggese and Church on sharp lineouts.

Pallante lasted into the fifth before giving way to the St. Louis bullpen. Brycen Mautz and Cade Winquest combined for several strikeouts, but the Giants maintained control. Tidwell completed 6 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs. He walked one and struck out four. Jason Foley relieved Tidwell and finished the seventh before working into the eighth.

In the top of the eighth, Brett Harris doubled to center field, and Eldridge doubled to right field to score Harris, giving San Francisco a 9-2 lead. St. Louis scored its final run in the bottom of the eighth. Fermin doubled to left field, and after Torres lined out and Pedro Pages struck out swinging, Nolan Gorman singled to right field to score Fermin. Ramon Urias grounded out to third baseman Brett Harris to end the inning, leaving the Cardinals behind 9-3.

The Giants capped the scoring in the ninth. Turner Hill homered to right-center field, his first of the season, to make it 10-3. Nate Furman walked, and Christian Koss singled on a popup to right fielder Victor Scott II, moving Furman to third, but Brett Harris struck out to end the inning.

Dylan Smith closed the game for San Francisco. He retired Bernal on a groundout to first baseman Bryce Eldridge, got Saggese to ground out from second baseman Nate Furman to Eldridge, walked Church, and induced Victor Scott II to ground out to Eldridge for the final out.

San Francisco finished with 12 hits. St. Louis had five. Eldridge went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs. Hill also went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs. Koss had three hits in five at-bats and drove in two runs. McCray and Basabe each added an RBI. For St. Louis, Burleson homered, Herrera drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Gorman singled in a run. Mautz pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief, allowing two hits and one earned run with two walks and four strikeouts. Winquest struck out five over 1 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and one earned run with one walk. Foley pitched 1 1/3 innings for San Francisco, yielding two hits and one earned run with one strikeout. Smith pitched a scoreless ninth with one walk.

Tidwell earned the win, improving to 1-2. Pallante took the loss and fell to 12-7. San Francisco improved to 63-89. St. Louis dropped to 75-77. The game drew 26,666 and lasted 2 hours, 56 minutes.

Tidwell had entered after a recent start against St. Louis on Sept. 9 in which he lasted four innings and allowed four earned runs while striking out two. Against the Cardinals on Tuesday, he was more efficient and kept the St. Louis lineup off balance through the middle innings. The Giants’ early power and timely hitting provided all the support he needed. San Francisco had dropped the series opener 2-1 on Monday and had lost four of its previous five games. The Giants will continue the series at St. Louis on Wednesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of San Francisco 4, St. Louis 3. Its ELO system had projected St. Louis with a 58.3 percent probability to win. St. Louis had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 13 went under the over/under line of 8.5.