Andrew Pentis
MLB.com
Rich Aurilia was already packing a suitcase for the Giants' upcoming 10-game road trip when asked about the home run that pushed the Giants to their 5-3 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. Don't let that fool you, though. The veteran reserve still allowed himself to savor the moment. Who wouldn't enjoy going deep in front of 41,440 at AT&T Park?
Aurilia's seventh-inning solo blast gave the Giants a 4-3 lead, the bullpen pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Jonathan Sanchez and the team clinched a 5-1 homestand and winning May record.
The Giants head to Washington, D.C., Florida, then Arizona still with the Los Angeles Dodgers in their sights. Answering questions Sunday, Aurilia said he believes the Giants are ready to have an above-.500 road trip, their first since taking two of three from the D-backs in late April. That would give San Francisco a great start to June.
"Hopefully this can propel us," Aurilia said. "We're playing good baseball right now, and hopefully we can continue that on the East Coast."
The Giants are just 7-15 on the road this season, third worst in the National League, but have excelled at home all year, scoring enough to win eight of nine series played in San Francisco. That was on display Sunday.
Aurilia singled to start the Giants' two-run fifth -- which tied the game at 3 -- after entering the game in a double-switch. His home run against Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (5-3) tied him for 16th on the franchise's all-time home run list. Aurilia has 142 as a Giant.
"It's hard to beat that effort off the bench," manager Bruce Bochy said.
The home run tarnished an otherwise quality start from Wainwright, who allowed four runs on 10 hits over seven innings.
St. Louis took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth when left fielder Nick Stavinoha doubled home two runs. Bochy immediately lifted Sanchez, who yielded all three runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings.
The bullpen came to his rescue, limiting the Cardinals to just two more hits, one night after they collected 16. The seven-man 'pen lowered its ERA during the six-game homestand to 1.53. In its care, the Giants are now 20-1 when leading a game after seven innings.
Brandon Medders started the run of relievers, pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings and finishing with a fifth-inning strikeout of Albert Pujols on a descending breaking pitch.
"He's different than most guys," Medders said. "[The usual approach] doesn't work with him."
Merkin Valdez (2-0) entered the game in the seventh and induced three groundouts. Jeremy Affeldt inherited two of Valdez's runners in the eighth but struck out Joe Thurston on a 3-2 fastball that brought the sellout crowd to its feet. On deck was Pujols, who had homered twice already in the series and finished it 6-for-11.
"It was scary there," Bochy said. "That was probably, to me, the most critical part of the game, to get that strikeout."
Affeldt, who leads the team in appearances (26) and hasn't allowed a run in 10 2/3 innings, has impressed Bochy with his desire to take the ball, often and in the toughest of situations.
"He's so valuable to this team," Bochy said of the bullpen's lone lefty.
The Giants added one more run in the bottom of the eighth against Cardinals reliever Chris Perez when Bengie Molina hit a sacrifice fly. The Giants had two men on and none out when Bochy was looking for insurance by pinch-hitting Molina, who was scheduled to get the day off Sunday.
Brian Wilson had another adventurous ninth inning but did collect his 12th save. Pujols hit a leadoff single, Fred Lewis made a sliding catch in left field for out No. 2 and Wilson struck out Molina's brother, Yadier Molina, to end the game.
Aaron Rowand extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his 2-for-4 performance at the plate. After limping off the field following his at-bat in the seventh, Rowand was replaced by Andres Torres in center field to start the eighth. Bochy said Rowand turned his right ankle and will be re-evaluated once the team arrives in Washington.
From: MLB.com
 St. Louis (29-21) Lost 1 | San Francisco 5, St. Louis 3 |  San Francisco (25-24) Won 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 5/31/09 | Recap: STL | SF | Wrap | Gameday |
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