Chris Haft
MLB.com
Ultimately, the Giants managed to share Randy Johnson's glory.
After Johnson recorded his 300th career victory in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Washington Nationals, the second game appeared destined to be an afterthought. But the Giants didn't perform that way, as all nine players hit safely in a rain-shortened 4-1 triumph that completed a sweep of the twin bill.
Matt Cain (7-1) won his fifth consecutive decision and received credit for a complete game after persistent showers prompted the umpiring crew to call the game in the top of the sixth inning after a one-hour, seven-minute delay.
Cain was the only known Giant not to participate in the on-field celebration following Game 1, in which Johnson added emotion to the traditional victory handshake line by embracing each teammate. Given the relatively short between-games interlude, Cain was in the clubhouse mentally preparing himself for his assignment while the Giants celebrated Johnson's win.
But the significance of Johnson's effort wasn't lost on Cain.
"It motivated me," Cain said. "To get the 300th win for R.J. was huge, so I was thinking, 'OK, we've got a lot of momentum. R.J. got that done for him. Let's keep it going on our side.'"
That they did. All nine players hit safely, including center fielder Aaron Rowand, who lengthened his hitting streak to 14 games. Different Giants drove in each run as San Francisco improved to 6-1 at Nationals Park.
The Giants broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the fifth inning off Nationals starter Ross Detwiler (0-2). Emmanuel Burriss blooped a leadoff double and scored on Rowand's one-out single. Edgar Renteria also singled. With two outs, Pablo Sandoval and Rich Aurilia drove in runs by doubling and singling, respectively.
Cain yielded a first-inning run as Cristian Guzman doubled, moved to third base on Nick Johnson's single and came home on Ryan Zimmerman's sacrifice fly. The right-hander toughened afterward. Anderson Hernandez doubled with one out in the second inning and Willie Harris tripled to open the fourth, but Cain stranded both of them.
Cain, who's one victory short of his 2008 total, hiked his road record to 3-0 with a 1.36 ERA in five starts.
Meanwhile, the Giants pulled even in the fourth. Andres Torres singled, stole second despite being trapped off first base on a pickoff throw and scored on Eli Whiteside's two-out single.
"What was impressive was the role players," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "They all did something to contribute."
From: MLB.com
San Francisco (27-25) Won 2 | San Francisco 4, Washington 1 | Washington (14-38) Lost 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Standings thru 6/4/09 | Recap: SF | WSH | Wrap | Gameday |
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1 comment:
Washington Nationals should be always competitive enough to keep pace with the others. I really like them; they’ve always been my favourite teams in MLB. Just read about them here:
http://www.nationalsclub.com
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