Giants rally to defeat Dodgers

Carl Steward
MercuryNews

The Beard is back, and it wasn't alone.

Closer Brian Wilson capped a night of multiple heroics by striking out the side in the ninth inning for his first save of the season as the Giants rallied from a 3-0 deficit and gritted out a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers at AT&T Park on Tuesday night.

The Giants have already had some stirring comebacks in 2011 despite their 5-6 record, but this may have been their best and toughest on a night when their ace, Tim Lincecum, didn't have his usual command.

Fortunately, the bullpen did. Guillermo Mota, Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and Wilson gave up just two hits and one run over the final 32/3 innings to allow the Giants' offense to post the necessary runs to win, and Wilson then delivered the kind of exclamation point the Giants have been looking for these first two weeks of the season.

"We needed something like that," said outfielder Pat Burrell. "It felt like last year, and that's a good thing, especially with Weez coming in and dominating like he did. We need to get back to being the team where everybody pitches in."

To be sure, it was a night of many heroes. Buster Posey snapped out of his early-season doldrums with three hits, including a pair of two-out RBI singles. Aaron Rowand continued his offensive resurrection with an RBI single and seventh-inning triple that ultimately delivered the winning run. Even struggling rookie Brandon Belt was involved in a key rally that helped overcome the early deficit against the Giants' notorious nemesis, Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley.

But at least symbolically, although Mota probably saved the game by getting out of a sixth-inning jam after Lincecum departed with one out and the bases loaded, the sight of Wilson stalking to the mound and blowing the Dodgers away was the defining moment of an important night.

"He looks like he's back where he needs to be," said manager Bruce Bochy. "For the psyche of the club, that was huge."

Pablo Sandoval said, "It was exciting to watch. That was the Wilson we know."

It wasn't the Lincecum everybody knows, but to win on a night when their ace didn't really have his control was significant. Lincecum attested to that.

"To come back from the deficit we were in says a lot about us," Lincecum said. "It says we're ready to go. This lifts you up more than a game when you're just coasting and winning 8-0."

The game began as though it would be a low-scoring pitching duel between Lincecum and Billingsley. Both pitchers faced the minimum over the first three innings, Lincecum allowing no hits while striking out three, and Billingsley allowing a single to Miguel Tejada, who was quickly erased on a strikeout/caught stealing double play.

But both starters struggled to get through the fourth, Lincecum surrendered three runs on four hits and an error, and Billingsley allowed two runs in the bottom half on Posey and Sandoval RBI hits.

The Giants then took the lead in the fifth on run-scoring singles by Rowand and Posey.

The Dodgers finally chased Lincecum in the sixth. After Lincecum made a great play from his knees to throw out Ethier for the first out, Matt Kemp and James Loney singled, then Lincecum hit Juan Uribe with his 115th and final pitch of the night. But Mota came in from the bullpen to end the threat, striking out Rod Barajas and getting Aaron Miles on a popup to third.

"Mota saved us tonight," said Bochy. "What a job he did coming in and getting those two big outs."

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