John Shea SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
If Tim Flannery ever dreamed of managing in the big leagues, it probably wasn't in the circumstances that unfolded in Wednesday's wacky series ender between the Dodgers and Giants.
In what the Giants considered the closest thing to a must-win for a game in mid-August, they averted a sweep with a 4-2 victory courtesy of Juan Uribe's 10th-inning home run, and the last manager standing was Flannery, though history will show it as a win for Bochy.
"Not in my book," Flannery said. "I'm 1-0."
It was the first time Flannery was called to manage in the majors. He last managed in the minors in 1995 and accompanied Bochy from San Diego to San Francisco three years ago.
"We always had a pretty good rivalry with the Dodgers when we were with the Padres, and that's the connection we had coming up here: We both hate the Dodgers," Flannery said. "It was a great day. You don't wake up in the morning thinking all this stuff today would happen. That's what makes this game so nutty."
Where to start?
-- Pablo Sandoval threatening to charge reliever James McDonald in the fifth, prompting the benches to empty and tempers to burn?
-- Sandoval's failure to hustle on a ball he figured would clear the wall in the ninth, turning a possible triple into a double?
-- Eugenio Velez's take-out slide of catcher Russell Martin, which occurred only because Martin leaped for center fielder Matt Kemp's errant throw just as Velez slid into the plate?
-- All the umpires' calls that the Giants believed went the wrong way?
-- Uribe's missed pop-up at shortstop in the 10th, which made his decisive homer that much sweeter?
-- Tim Lincecum's latest tough-luck no-decision?
"I don't think I've been in a game like that," said closer Brian Wilson, who replaced Lincecum with two outs in the ninth - after the Dodgers tied it 2-2 on Andre Ethier's RBI single - and got the win, striking out four batters.
The Sandoval-McDonald incident came one pitch after Freddy Sanchez singled home Velez, who toppled Martin (seemingly innocently) and made sure to ask Martin if he was OK. McDonald threw inside to Sandoval, who took a few steps toward the mound and gestured. Martin threw down his mask and went after Sandoval.
When the dust settled, Sandoval thought he'd get first base for being hit on the left elbow, but umpire Paul Emmel ruled the pitch hit Sandoval's bat.
"It never hit the bat," Sandoval said.
Bochy was tossed after disputing whether Manny Ramirez hand-danced his way back to first base on catcher Bengie Molina's pickoff attempt. Ump Gary Darling called Ramirez safe, leading to a rare outburst by Travis Ishikawa and Bochy's second ejection in three days.
"He might have been right, but that was close. Ishikawa is not one to argue much, and I'm going off his reaction," Bochy said. "It was frustration on my side. We had a lot of calls that didn't go our way."
The Giants might have had a better reason to argue in the ninth, a more costly situation in which Darling called Rafael Furcal safe on a slow grounder to Uribe at short. This time, Wotus was thumbed.
From there, Furcal alertly tagged and took second on Martin's fly to the warning track in center. Lincecum was one out from his 13th victory, but Ethier singled to right for the tie.
Flannery pulled Lincecum, no doubt on orders from Bochy and pitching coach Dave Righetti, and Wilson struck out Ramirez to force an extra inning. In the 10th, Uribe lost James Loney's pop-up in the sun, but Wilson fanned Kemp and Brad Ausmus to set up Uribe's second career game-ending homer, coming off Guillermo Mota.
Calls gone wild
"Questionable calls, you're going to have them," Bruce Bochy said. "There were a lot." Here's a sampling from the just-completed series:
-- Monday: Rich Aurilia is called out at first by Bill Hohn on a double play, even though Dodgers first baseman Mark Loretta was off the bag, near right.
-- Wednesday: Pablo Sandoval is hit on the arm by a pitch, center, but home-plate umpire Paul Emmel rules a foul ball. Sandoval eventually walks. Later, Nate Schierholtz grounds to second baseman Juan Castro and is called out, but replays show that Schierholtz beat the throw to first, far right.
Dodgers vs. Giants series recap
Monday
L.A. 4, S.F. 2
WP: Kuroda (5-5)
LP: Sanchez (5-10)
Save: Broxton (25)
Tuesday
L.A. 9, S.F. 1
WP: Wolf (6-6)
LP: Martinez (2-1)
Wednesday
S.F. 4, L.A. 2 (10)
WP: Wilson (4-5)
LP: Mota (3-4)
Lincecum: 82/3 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 7 strikeouts
 LA Dodgers (69-46) Lost 1 | San Francisco 4, LA Dodgers 2 |  San Francisco (62-52) Won 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 8/12/09 | Recap: LAD | SF | Wrap | Gameday |
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