Rowand makes new memory

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)

For the first time since becoming a Giant, Aaron Rowand saw Barry Bonds on Saturday when the outfielders of the present came onto the field during a pregame ceremony to hand commemorative pins to 26 outfielders of the past. Bonds had some profound words for one of his successors.

"I told you it was cold here," Bonds told Rowand, who responded, "You weren't lying."

Bonds was long gone when Rowand supplied his most profound act as a Giant. With one out in the 10th inning, he slapped a bases-loaded single past a drawn-in infield to complete a stunning rally against closer Jonathan Broxton that beat the Dodgers 3-2.

The night could not have been sweeter for the Giants fans among the 41,963 in the house.

They not only got to cheer Bonds (and Willie Mays, Kevin Mitchell and many other great outfielders from the past half-century), they saw the Giants overcome a go-ahead homer in the top of the 10th by Bonds' old foil, Jeff Kent. When the Giants stormed back for two in the bottom of the inning, they prevented the Dodgers from capturing first place in the National League West.

"This was a lot of fun," said Dave Roberts, whose fingerprints were all over this win. "Me having been on the other side of the rivalry, seeing all the past outfielders tonight, having Barry come out, the energy seemed to be up. The energy in this game tonight was like the energy I remember as a Dodger playing against the Giants."

The Giants did nothing for five innings against Hiroki Kuroda until Roberts, pinch-hitting for Kevin Correia (six innings, one run), doubled to start a rally that tied the game 1-1. He scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Fred Lewis.

Manager Bruce Bochy made a decision that surely disappointed some fans. He left Roberts in the game in left field and removed Lewis. By night's end, that decision seemed golden.

Roberts went 3-for-3 and doubled again to start the winning rally in the 10th. Randy Winn then floated a single in front of Manny Ramirez in left field to put runners on the corners. Then came the key to the inning, a high chopper by Emmanuel Burriss that Broxton fielded over his shoulder.

Broxton spun and heaved a wild throw home. Not only did Roberts score to tie the game 2-2, but the remaining runners advanced to second and third. Broxton then hit Ivan Ochoa to load the bases.

Bengie Molina struck out for the inning's first out. Up stepped Rowand, who had stranded five runners in his previous two at-bats, including a bases-loaded strikeout that ended the eighth. This time, he calmly rolled his game-winning single past a diving Kent. Rowand passed an initiation of sorts with his first game-winning hit against the Dodgers as a Giant.

"Anytime you get an opportunity to have a walk-off, game-winning hit, those are some of the most exciting moments in your career," Rowand said. "That's stuff you don't forget. Almost every player remembers all his walk-off hits. This one was special with (the Dodgers) being here in front of all of our fans."

There was a lot of emotion on the field even before the Giants' 10th-inning rally, maybe too much from rookie reliever Billy Sadler, who pitched two scoreless innings. In the seventh, with Kent on first after a two-out single, Sadler caught Manny Ramirez looking at a breaking pitch for strike three to preserve a 1-1 tie. Sadler celebrated by punching his fist twice, the second time into the air.

Ramirez did not seem to mind - after all, it was just Billy being Billy - but some in the Dodgers dugout started screaming and pointing Sadler's way. When Kent hit his go-ahead homer in the 10th, he seemed to leer at Sadler in the dugout as he rounded third.

That homer, on what Walker called "a poor pitch," added to a long list of big hits against the right-hander this season. He followed that by allowing a Ramirez single. But in one of many keys to this win, Walker prevented the Dodgers from scoring a second run. He admitted the last inning was "a little bit of a rollercoaster, emotionally, for me."

But he added, "That was a big win for us. We haven't had too many come-from-behind wins like that at home. Hopefully we can build on that tomorrow."