Mercury News
CHICAGO -- Ryan Vogelsong already proved his mettle. He persevered through four years on three continents to get back to the major leagues.
Maybe he should get credit for Antarctica, too, after his toughness reached ironclad territory on an abysmal Saturday night for baseball at Wrigley Field.
Through a horizontal, skin-stinging, 40-degree mist that felt more like an icy pressure wash, Vogelsong shut down the Chicago Cubs, and the Giants were awarded a 3-0, six-inning victory. It's officially the first shutout and complete game of Vogelsong's career.
Oh, and one more thing: He didn't bother to wear full sleeves. He refused to wear a jacket on the basepaths, too.
"Trying to be intimidating or just foolish, I don't know," third baseman Mark DeRosa said. "Me, I couldn't find enough sleeves to put on. I had just enough to stay mobile."
Yes, they are hardy folk in Western Pennsylvania, where Vogelsong was born and raised. He echoed most of his teammates, saying he'd never played in such miserable conditions. Tim Lincecum, proud of his waterlogged Seattle roots, might have been the lone dissenter. He'll get to take the ball Sunday with more rain and cold forecast.
The confines weren't so friendly at Clark and Addison. The teams combined to commit five errors in the slop; Giants shortstop Miguel Tejada was charged with two of them after one ball skipped on the wet grass, and his soaked glove failed to make a clean stop of another.
Bats flew into the stands. Hitters called timeout, as the mist stung their eyes. Vogelsong had to shake off the catcher's sign a few times when Buster Posey called for a curveball. Vogelsong couldn't feel the ball in his hand.
"I was just trying to get quick outs and get out of the rain, not let our guys stand around out there too long," said Vogelsong, who owns a streak of 131/3 scoreless innings. "I had a couple long innings and felt bad about that. I was just trying to get us back in the dugout as quick as I could."
The Cubs had no such hope with left-hander Doug Davis, who is known to work at a maddeningly slow pace. Posey, who was hitting .188 off left-handers, came through with a two-out single to score Freddy Sanchez in the first inning.
The Giants scored two runs in the third, when Vogelsong hit a leadoff single, Aaron Rowand doubled to right-center, and the Cubs committed two errors. With two outs, Cody Ross hit a dribbler that catcher Koyie Hill pounced upon but threw wide to first base, allowing Vogelsong to score. Rowand came home when third baseman Blake DeWitt couldn't handle Pat Burrell's ground ball.
"It was tough sledding," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It was just swirling. The mist, the cold wind -- it was biting through the guys pretty good.
"But Vogey, it starts with him. He got in some tough jams. We had trouble with ground balls, and they did, too. He kept his focus and pitched out of them."
When Vogelsong reached base, Bochy told hitting coach Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens to hand over his jacket.
"He said, 'Oh no, I'm not giving up my jacket,' " Bochy said. "It was pretty competitive all night at the end of the dugout near the heater, too."
The Giants must get a warm feeling when Vogelsong steps on the mound. They are 4-0 in his starts.
He did his share of battling, though, while scattering seven hits. Vogelsong stranded the bases loaded in the first inning when he jammed Marlon Byrd on a weak lineout to short and struck out Alfonso Soriano on a curveball. Vogelsong stranded runners in five of his six innings.
And he did it all with no jacket required.
"Once I adapted to the weather, I didn't want to put it on, get warm, then take it off and get cold," said Vogelsong, who didn't wear a jacket in the dugout, either. "I want to feel the temperature."
Vogelsong had thrown 102 pitches and would have gone out for a seventh inning, but umpires called it when the rain got worse with Rowand at the plate leading off the seventh. After a 40-minute delay, it was ruled that play would not resume.
"Get a couple runs on some water balls and get out of here with a win," DeRosa said. "All in all, a miserable experience, but a great day."
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