The Giants took control of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday with a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 at AT&T Park.
The victory gives the Giants a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series and a chance to clinch without heading back to Philadelphia. They're two wins away from advancing to the World Series, with Games 4 and 5 scheduled for AT&T Park on Wednesday and Thursday.
Matt Cain limited the Phillies to two hits over seven innings in his second career postseason start. Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson finished off the final two innings as Philadelphia didn't advance a runner past second base the entire afternoon.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy shook up his batting order considerably after a flat offensive performance in Sunday's Game 2 defeat. Edgar Renteria led off, Cody Ross moved up to the No. 5 spot, Aubrey Huff dropped to sixth and Aaron Rowand replaced Andres Torres in center field and hit eighth.
The adjustments worked.
Renteria led off the fourth with a single off Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels and came around to score the game's first run on Ross' two-out single to left. Ross continued his postseason hot streak and has four RBIs through three NLCS games. Aubrey Huff followed up with a run-scoring single to right in the fourth as the Giants took a 2-0 lead.
They padded their lead in the fifth. Rowand led off with a double to left and Freddy Sanchez scored him with a two-out single that ricocheted off Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. The play was originally scored an error but changed to a hit. Cain retired his first seven hitters, then sidestepped damage in the third and fourth, when he stranded runners on first an second in each inning. Bochy moved Jonathan Sanchez up to start Game 2 and dropped Cain into the Game 3 start. That gave Cain a start at AT&T Park, where he's been tough this season. The right-hander was 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA in five career starts against Philadelphia in the regular season.
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