Mercury News
What will be the lasting sound and substance from this one?
Will it be Pablo Sandoval's towel-waving, stark-raving madness as he watched the Giants erase a 10-1 deficit and push ahead? Will it be the roar and elation of 36,310 fans group-hugging as if they had all just scratched off million-dollar lottery tickets?
Or will a malaise linger for days after the greatest comeback in the Giants' 53-year history in San Francisco ended up counting for squat in the standings?
The effects couldn't be known in the immediate aftermath, but the Giants understood one thing after an unforgettable 12-11, 12-inning loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday afternoon:
They are relieved they won't play a baseball game today.
They need 24 hours to regroup, to heal, to process what in holy heck just happened.
"You can't be down," said Aubrey Huff, whose sacrifice fly gave the Giants an 11-10 lead in a six-run eighth inning. "That game was lost. There shouldn't be one person in here hanging their head."
Instead, there were clenched jaws amid a silent clubhouse. Players spoke of a moral victory, but they were in no mood to shrug their shoulders with any satisfaction.
Especially closer Brian Wilson, who allowed the tying run while working his second inning in the ninth. Ditto for Barry Zito, who took the loss after manager Bruce Bochy burned through his abbreviated, six-man bullpen.
Sandoval's errant, high throw from third base
"We just made a couple of mistakes that bit us," Bochy said. "It looked like he just tried to throw it too hard. He airmailed it pretty good. That's what gets him into trouble. Sometimes he overthrows it."
Chalk it up to pennant race inexperience, perhaps. Stubbs might have beaten the play anyway. But the extra base proved to be crucial when Paul Janish followed by sneaking a dirt-hugging single into right field, sending Stubbs home.
Zito was similarly snakebit in the 12th. He gave up three hits, including two jam shots. Shortstop Juan Uribe threw for an out at the plate after fielding a hard ground ball. But with second base open and two out, the Giants elected to have Zito face Joey Votto, who had hit two home runs as the Reds built their early lead.
The Triple Crown candidate didn't make ringing contact, but his ground ball found a seam through the right side to score Miguel Cairo.
"I went fastball in twice," Zito said. "He hit a jam shot. I wouldn't take it back, (except for) the result. "... It's as frustrating as ever, but they hit the pitches I was making. It's tough to tip your hat at a time like this."
Bochy wasn't in a mood to tip his, either.
"That's the difference in the game," he said. "They got a seeing-eye hit."
Uribe's eyes were a little bigger. His three-run shot in the eighth made it a 10-8 game and pumped belief into the crowd and the home dugout. The Giants strung together three hits after that, with Andres Torres' tying, two-run double inspiring thousands of total strangers to embrace each other.
"It happened so fast," Huff said. "It's 10-5, then 10-8, then the next thing I know, I'm in the batter's box, and it's 10-10. I didn't even know what happened."
The Giants had erased an eight-run deficit three times in the San Francisco era, most recently in 1989 -- against the Reds at old Riverfront Stadium.
With 57 runs, the Reds and Giants shattered the record for a three-game series at AT&T Park. And the Giants scored at least 11 runs in three consecutive games for the first time since June 3-5, 1953, the year Willie Mays was barnstorming Army bases and sleeping in barracks.
The Giants also totaled at least 17 hits in three consecutive games for the first time since 1933.
Despite the loss, the Giants still won a series against a playoff-caliber team, taking two of three from the Reds.
"We have to feel inspired, too, because we didn't throw in the towel," Zito said. "When there's no momentum in your favor and you muster it back up, that says a lot about the heart of this team."
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