Right fielder adds two-run single; Zito breaks losing streak
MLB.com
It was only a first-inning at-bat, but there was no doubt the outcome of Sunday's game rested on the shoulders of Jose Guillen.
The bases were loaded. The Giants were 0-for-their-last-11 with runners in scoring position. They had scored only one run in their past two games.
Simply put, the Giants needed something -- a bobbled ball, a seeing-eye single, anything -- to give them a spark.
Guillen delivered, rocketing a grand slam into the left-field stands and setting the tone in Sunday's 9-2 beatdown of the Brewers at AT&T Park.
"I guess Jose Guillen was the secret today," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of the difference Sunday compared to the series' first two games. "We had some good at-bats ... and kept the line moving today, which is what you need to win. The last thing we wanted to do was get swept here at home and the guys bounced back well."
The win, coupled with San Diego's 4-1 loss to St. Louis, gave the Giants a half-game lead over the Padres in the National League West. The Rockies, who entered play Sunday in third place, fell 1 1/2 games behind the Giants with an 11-inning, 7-6 loss to the Dodgers.
The Giants needed something to jump-start a lineup that almost had the wind taken out of its sails three pitches into the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Cody Ross drilled a 1-1 fastball deep into left field, which did, in fact, carry over the wall. But Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun had a bead on it the entire way, leaped at the wall and brought the ball back into the park with a snow-cone catch that will be remembered as one of the best of the season and one of the greatest at AT&T Park.
Ross and Bochy each called the catch one of the best they've ever seen. Even the AT&T Park crowd was impressed, as many of the 41,113 in attendance gave Braun a standing ovation for the catch, which he said was his best ever.
"It was right down the line. I didn't even think I was going to have a chance to get there, so I was pretty excited to come up with it," Braun said.
"I bobbled it a little bit, barely came up with it. I was definitely excited. You don't get too many opportunities to rob a home run."
Four batters later, Guillen hit Brewers starter Chris Narveson's 1-0 changeup where Braun had no chance to catch it.
"I'm officially a Giant now, huh?" said Guillen, who was acquired for his power but entered Sunday with only two homers and nine RBIs. "I finally did something that really counted when we really needed it."
Guillen also drove in two more in the fifth inning, following three straight walks with a single up the middle, and Pat Burrell added a three-run homer in the seventh inning for the final margin.
Just as exciting as the offense scoring nine runs was Guillen's performance. On Wednesday, the right fielder received an epidural shot for a bulging disk in his neck. Although Guillen shrugged when asked how much better he feels, saying he doesn't like to make excuses, Bochy said the difference is evident.
"Without question I think he's swinging freer," Bochy said. "It's been bothering him, but I think that's done a world of good for him. He feels a lot better, feels a lot stronger and looks a lot more comfortable up there."
Guillen's six RBIs were more than enough for Giants starter Barry Zito, who improved to an absurd 110-6 in his career when receiving at least four runs of support.
The win broke a career-high nine-decision losing streak for Zito (9-13, 3.98 ERA). The left-hander threw six strong innings, allowing two runs on three hits -- an infield single, a single through the left side and a sixth-inning, two-run homer by Braun. It was Zito's first win since July 16 vs. the Mets.
"The last couple games we lost as a team, but personally I felt a lot better than I had in my previous handful," Zito said. "[I was] just building off those."
Although the Giants have said throughout the past few weeks they're not scoreboard-watching during the game, that certainly isn't the case afterward. A host of players were gathered in the clubhouse dining room afterward watching the conclusion of Colorado's game, and cheers could be heard when the Dodgers tied the game in the bottom of the ninth.
The Giants will continue to watch their division rivals, but know destiny is in their hands.
"From here on out we've got to [follow] the old cliche 'one game at a time,'" Ross said. "We're in control. It's ours to lose right now. We're in first place and we've got to keep playing the way we know how to, and today was a good day for us to start."
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