Squeeze saves homecoming
The Indians had to know a squeeze bunt from Omar Vizquel might be coming. They saw him drop a great one on their own pregame video-highlight tribute to their revered former shortstop.
Did they pitch out? No.
Did Vizquel drop a perfect bunt? Absolutely. Rich Aurilia charged home in the ninth inning and scored what proved to be the decisive run in the Giants' 3-2 victory in their first game here since the 1954 World Series.
Just to make Omar Vizquel Night complete, he made an outstanding stop on David Dellucci's hard grounder in the hole and got a force at second base for the second out of what proved to be another cardiac ninth inning for Brian Wilson. The closer allowed a run but struck out Kelly Shoppach with two aboard to get his 20th save.
Wilson said he thought Dellucci's ball was an "automatic hit" until he saw it disappear in Vizquel's glove.
"Omar saved us today," manager Bruce Bochy said. "It just goes to show you can have a great game without a base hit."
Here is the reality check: After the stirring video tribute that showed Vizquel make ridiculous play after ridiculous play, and after the multiple ovations from the crowd of 29,024, Vizquel had a bad game for seven innings. He stranded two runners in the second inning and three more in the seventh as he ran his hitless streak to 21 at-bats.
Indians manager Eric Wedge put Bochy in a bad spot in the seventh when he had starter Aaron Laffey issue a pitch-around walk to Brian Horwitz to load the bases with two outs. Bochy had to decide whether to let a struggling Vizquel bat or embarrass his shortstop by removing him for a pinch-hitter on his homecoming night.
Bochy stuck with Vizquel, who flied out and admitted he needed that squeeze bunt, his first RBI since June 6, to leave Progressive Field feeling good about himself.
"No question," he said. "I needed to do something good today. When I saw the squeeze sign I said, 'Oh yes, thank you.' "
Even Vizquel had to admit the win was not about him. To the contrary, he said third baseman Jose Castillo was the "real hero," a distinction Castillo actually must share with starter Jonathan Sanchez.
Castillo had his best all-around game as a Giant. He drove in the team's first run with a two-out single in the second inning and set up the Vizquel squeeze with a hit-and-run single through the right side of the infield.
Castillo also had two great plays in the field. He made a backhand catch of a Shin-Soo Choo foul ball, as he crashed into a fence near the Indians' dugout, and a diving stop of a Jhonny Peralta grounder. Castillo then threw to second from his knees to start a double play.
Sanchez (7-4) won for the fifth time in his last six starts, pitching into the eighth inning for the second consecutive game, walking two, striking out eight and holding Cleveland to a first-inning run. Tyler Walker bailed out Sanchez in the eighth, striking out Jamey Carroll to strand the potential tying run at third, after Ray Durham just scored the go-ahead run on Shoppach's wild throw as Randy Winn stole second.
Sanchez left the game and watched Vizquel drop his second successful suicide squeeze of the season in the ninth.
"I told Merkin (Valdez), 'Vizquel is going to do something crazy here,' and he did," Sanchez said. "He's a great player. He does his best for the game every day."
Before the game, Vizquel held a well-attended news conference. When asked what he wanted to say to the fans, he said, "Don't throw any oranges or bottles at me." Instead, they threw kisses - during the video tribute, when he stepped into the box for the first time, even when they booed their starter for getting a strike call on his first pitch to Vizquel.
The entire team watched the highlight video and applauded when it was over. Giants relievers who were walking to the bullpen stopped in the outfield to see it.
"It was amazing," Wilson said. "Nothing surprised me on that board. That's stuff I've been watching for 2 1/2 years."
Vizquel did well to keep his emotions in check, but said, "It was hard. I wasn't expecting everybody to get up and give me that welcome. I've never been in a situation where I was the center of attention. It was really emotional. It was really cool."
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