SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
The Giants did the little things Friday night. They hit into errors. Stood at the plate watching errant pitches whiz by. Waited in the gift line.
In a game that suggested hits can be overrated, the Giants beat the Braves 3-2. Without the benefit of a hit to spark their rallies, they tied the game in the ninth and won it in the 11th.
Three outs from losing their third in a row, the Giants let the Braves do all the work. The two infielders who hit home runs to make it 2-1, shortstop Alex Gonzalez and third baseman Chipper Jones, made ninth-inning errors to make it 2-2.
Playing the Santa Claus role in the 11th was reliever Peter Moylan, who walked three batters before Pat Burrell hit a game-deciding sacrifice fly. Brian Wilson cruised in the 11th for his 32nd save.
Asked if the Giants felt fortunate, manager Bruce Bochy said, "Oh, we do. We didn't do much offensively. Those are the breaks. It was a long night. It was a nice win."
But Wilson said, "I don't feel fortunate because we played the fundamentals of baseball and lasted one more inning than they did. It's why closers have ERAs. It's why no one's perfect."
Barry Zito had authoritative stuff, other than the homers he surrendered, continuing his impressive run since the All-Star break. He struck out 10 batters in seven innings, one strikeout shy of his career high, and said his slider was the best it has been all season.
Chris Ray, Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Wilson each pitched a scoreless inning, and the Giants evened the series with two games remaining.
In a bizarre ninth, the Giants had four baserunners and no hits. After Billy Wagner plunked Aubrey Huff on the right arm, Buster Posey hit a grounder to Gonzalez, who threw wildly to second. One out later, Pablo Sandoval hit a chopper to Jones, who intended to throw home because Huff was running on contact. But Jones butchered a backhand attempt, and Huff scored.
With Posey at third, representing the go-ahead run, Burrell was intentionally walked. Travis Ishikawa - who hit against the left-handed Wagner because Edgar Renteria (left biceps strain) was unavailable to pinch hit - bounced into an inning-ending double play.
The start of the game was delayed 90 minutes by lots of rain and a Tom Glavine number-retiring ceremony. The Giants scored their first run the same way as Thursday's first run, on a Huff grounder to second base that scored Torres.
Earlier in the day, The Chronicle reported online that the Giants weren't the team awarded the waiver claim on Washington's Adam Dunn and that it could have been the Dodgers. When Dunn was placed on waivers, the Giants had the league's third-best record, and teams lower in the standings were given first crack. The Dodgers simply could have been blocking Dunn from other contenders, though they would be allowed to try negotiating a trade.
Either way, the Giants have no chance at Dunn now, and Jose Guillen, designated for assignment by the Royals, remains an iffy proposition on many fronts.
But who needs more hitters when you don't need hits to win games?
No comments:
Post a Comment