Chris Haft
MLB.com
The Giants nearly turned the outrage of the AT&T Park fans into euphoria Wednesday. That would have been a neat trick, since they lost this game more than once.
San Francisco scrambled to recover after yielding a run in the 10th inning and two more in the 11th to fall to the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-6. But the Giants' extra-inning adventures didn't seem as stunning as the events of the ninth inning, when they squandered the combination of Tim Lincecum on the mound and a 4-1 lead.
The stage was set for another celebration of Lincecum's glorious skills. He was three outs away from becoming the first Giants pitcher to win not only his first five starts of the season but also five games in April since John Burkett in 1993. A complete game also appeared within reach for Lincecum, who had surrendered three hits, struck out 11 and thrown 98 pitches entering the ninth.
But after walking Shane Victorino on four pitches with one out, Giants manager Bruce Bochy yanked Lincecum in favor of closer Brian Wilson without hesitation.
Bochy was showered with boos during each leg of his round trip between the dugout and the mound. But the catcalls gained a hostile edge after Wilson loaded the bases with two outs and yielded Jayson Werth's pop-fly double that tied the score, denied Lincecum a victory and prevented a three-game series sweep.
Bochy explained that Lincecum "worked hard the game before," having thrown 120 pitches last Friday against St. Louis. The walk to Victorino, which hiked Lincecum's pitch count to 106, brought the right-hander toward a limit that Bochy and pitching coach Dave Righetti didn't want to exceed.
Additionally, Wilson was fresh, having rested for three days. He also had converted all four of his previous save opportunities and was unscored upon in seven outings.
"These aren't easy decisions," Bochy said, emphasizing that nothing was physically wrong with Lincecum. "I'll say this: There'll be other times we feel like he can [finish the game]. We have to take care of this kid. ... We have one of the best [closers] in the game. I didn't have any problem bringing Willie in. Never will."
All that logic soon was shrouded by a haze of events. Placido Polanco flied out, but Chase Utley singled and Ryan Howard walked to load the bases. Werth fell behind on the count, 1-2, but worked it to 3-2 before lifting a fly ball that landed just inside the right-field line near Philadelphia's bullpen. The ball scooted by right fielder Nate Schierholtz as Victorino, Utley and Howard scooted around the bases.
Lincecum didn't dispute Bochy's move.
"We have an All-Star closer and a 4-1 lead," he said. "... I'm not saying I felt like it was in the bag, but usually he's going to close it out pretty well."
But Lincecum did admit that he wanted to stay in the game.
"It would have been nice," he said. "I kind of let go of [Victorino] with the walk. But it would have been ideal. ... I still felt strong. Obviously I felt the innings on me, but nothing to the point where I couldn't continue."
Said a subdued Wilson, "I really can't explain what happened. I felt like I was throwing the ball where I wanted to. I wasn't really erratic. ... I can't really do anything about it besides just wear it."
Schierholtz was playing toward right-center field to cut off potential extra-base hits and couldn't reach Werth's popup.
"It's a ball normally I think I would have a chance to make a play on," Schierholtz said. "It's probably the only ball, outside of a home run, that scores all three guys."
Phillies players welcomed Lincecum's departure.
"I guess it's just kind of a new life," Howard said. "The way he had been pitching the entire game, yeah, I guess you just try to seize the opportunity of getting somebody else in there."
"Obviously, when he came out of the game, yeah, you're happy to see the guy leave," Victorino said. "But we're not like, 'Oh, yeah, we're going to do this!' You're still trying the whole game."
So were the Giants, who almost atoned for their lapses yet ultimately compounded their frustration. They lost despite outhitting Philadelphia 17-8. San Francisco stranded a whopping 16 baserunners and went 5-for-21 with runners in scoring position.
Jeremy Affeldt flung a run-scoring wild pitch in the 10th, but Schierholtz, who went a career-best 5-for-5, doubled to open the Giants' half of the inning and scored on Andres Torres' single.
The Phillies pulled ahead for good with a pair of runs in the 11th on Wilson Valdez's RBI double, which Eugenio Velez nearly caught at the wall, and Victorino's routine fly to left, which Velez mishandled for an error.
Velez indicated that breezes blew Victorino's fly off its anticipated path.
"I was waiting for the ball right there -- and I had to keep running," Velez said.
Schierholtz doubled again in the 11th with one out to drive in a run. But Velez, with runners on second and third and a chance to be a hero, grounded to first baseman Howard, who threw out Juan Uribe at the plate. Torres then grounded out, ending the game and forcing the Giants to take solace in their comeback.
"It was fun watching our hitters go up there and be competitive and put pressure on the other team," Lincecum said.
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