It took 11 innings. And three hours and 34 minutes. And one of the biggest broken-bat groundouts of the season. And five relievers throwing shutout ball. And a Giants catcher actually stretching a single into a double. And a game-ending single that did in the majors' best bullpen.
The Giants finally proved they needn't keep losing to the Padres.
Juan Uribe singled home Buster Posey for a 3-2 Giants victory Saturday, and suddenly the first-place Padres aren't so invincible. Suddenly, the Giants are thinking about winning a series. Newcomer Jose Guillen will be in the lineup for today's finale, and Tim Lincecum will try to be good ol' Timmy, having shelved his hands-over-the-head windup.
After going 1-8 against the Padres, momentum at last arrived.
"It's a big win," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It gets to the point where you start thinking about it too much. They won a lot of these games, and three or four could've gone the other way, just like today. You've got two good teams scrapping for runs, and it's good to come out on top."
Excuse Posey for knowing little about the Padres' one-sidedness. By the time he arrived from the minors May 29, the Giants were in a 1-7 hole. This series is his first look at the San Diegans, and he's already a difference-maker.
He opened the 11th inning with a grounder up the middle, off second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr.'s glove. As the ball rolled slowly from Hairston, Posey alertly hustled to second, putting him in position to score on Uribe's hit.
"I didn't know he was that fast," said Bochy, perhaps having Bengie Molina flashbacks. "Good hustle on his part. He won the game for us."
Posey slid across the plate, jumped in the air and waved an arm in his most animated moment with the Giants. He was typically even-keeled at his locker afterward, saying of the teams' season series, "It doesn't really matter what happened in the past."
It's hard to overlook, though. Seven of the 10 games were decided by one run. None of the others was decided by more than three. As Aubrey Huff said, "Winning today, we can come out tomorrow a little looser, and maybe we can try to win by a little more than one run."
Lincecum is coming off a rough start against the Cubs, yielding four first-inning runs for the first time in his career, and said he's reverting to his old windup. It seemed his decision, though he said he chatted with his father/mentor, Chris, between starts.
"Just trying to simplify things and get to what I was doing. Not too many moving parts," Lincecum said.
The Giants fell behind 2-0 Saturday with nemesis Mat Latos in control, but recharged Pablo Sandoval homered to open the seventh, chasing Latos, who twice beat the Giants 1-0.
The Giants tied it in the eighth when Mike Fontenot singled, advanced to third on Huff's double and scored on Pat Burrell's broken-bat RBI groundout to second, which earned Burrell a big ovation.
Chris Ray, Javier Lopez, Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo and winner Santiago Casilla combined for four shutout innings after Madison Bumgarner gave up two runs on eight hits in seven.
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