Mercury News
The Giants are a playoff contender and the Arizona Diamondbacks are not.
But you couldn't discern the difference with a program and a spyglass at Chase Field on Monday night. Even the run that separated the teams in the Giants' 5-4 victory scored in sloppy and dispiriting fashion.
Fred Lewis hit a potential double-play grounder with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning, but the ball stuck just long enough in second baseman Augie Ojeda's glove, and Lewis beat the relay throw by a step.
Travis Ishikawa crossed the plate to decide a game that was almost won by default.
The Giants probably lost second baseman Freddy Sanchez for a while. He almost had to be carried off the field in the first inning with another knee injury, and he'll have a date with the MRI chamber today.
Regardless of how the victory looked or felt, the Giants accomplished two things: They crept within four games of the idle Colorado Rockies in the wild-card standings. And they won their 81st game to end a streak of four consecutive losing seasons.
"The organization's goal was to make improvement, and that was one — to get out of these losing seasons," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, whose teams were 71-91 in 2007 and 72-90 in '08. "But these guys have fought all year. We're not here to play .500 ball. I certainly don't want that to be what we're looking for."
The Giants prevailed mostly because their bullpen turned n another spotless outing after Barry Zito hit the bench after retiring just one batter in the fifth. Amazingly, in four games on this trip, no starter has completed five innings. Bob Howry, Dan Runzler, Sergio Romo and Jeremy Affeldt delivered the ball to Brian Wilson, who struck out three to record his 35th save. Wilson allowed a two-out single to Stephen Drew but threw a called 98 mph fastball at the knees — the ninth pitch of the at-bat — to retire dangerous young slugger Justin Upton. Wilson has a 1.21 ERA in 26 games since the All-Star break and has the look of a dominant force in a playoff series. "That's what I strive for in my workouts," Wilson said. "To have longevity, to sustain all these innings and days in a row and keep on going." Otherwise, there was little to suggest the Giants deserve to play past the first weekend in October. They were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and lost Sanchez when his left knee twisted as his spikes caught while taking a throw from center field. Both teams lost their second basemen in bizarre ways. The Diamondbacks' Ryan Roberts sprained his ankle in the eighth when he crashed into pitcher Esmerling Vasquez while chasing Aaron Rowand's bunt single. Rowand doesn't have a sacrifice hit in two seasons as a Giant, but Bochy ordered a bunt after Ishikawa drew his third walk of the game. "He laid down one of the better bunts we've had all year, really," Bochy said. "And then we caught a break there." Vasquez's desperation throw to first base ended up in foul territory — the Diamondbacks' third error of the game — and put runners on second and third to set up the winning run. The Giants made plenty of mistakes, too, including Juan Uribe's dropped throw at second base that forced Zito to work harder in the fifth. Zito already had blown one lead on Mark Reynolds' two-run home run in the first inning, and Uribe's error preceded Upton's tying, two-run single. "I didn't feel that good tonight," said Zito, who had to abandon his fastball. "We were able to pull out a win without a good outing at all from the starting pitcher." With a dozen games remaining, they'll need the starters, the relievers and everyone else if they have aspirations beyond being merely better than .500. "You can go down the history of baseball," Bochy said. "There have been bigger comebacks than four down with 12 left. We still believe we're in this."
From: MLB.com
 San Francisco (81-69) Won 1 | San Francisco 5, Arizona 4 |  Arizona (65-86) Lost 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 9/21/09 | Recap: SF | ARI | Wrap | Gameday |
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