Just when it looked like they were going to lay another
depressing early-season egg Tuesday night, the Giants gritted out
perhaps their biggest and toughest victory of the year so far.
After falling behind 3-0 in the fourth inning with their ace Tim
Lincecum on the mound, the Giants rallied to ultimately scrape out
a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the process, they
rediscovered several elements they’d been missing for much of the
young season.
SAN FRANCISCO
Just when it looked like they were going to lay another depressing early-season egg Tuesday night, the Giants gritted out perhaps their biggest and toughest victory of the year so far.
After falling behind 3-0 in the fourth inning with their ace Tim Lincecum on the mound, the Giants rallied to ultimately scrape out a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the process, they rediscovered several elements they’d been missing for much of the young season.
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Struggling Buster Posey had three hits, two of them two-out RBI singles. Aaron Rowand delivered the key hit, a seventh-inning leadoff triple that ultimately resulted in the winning run.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Brian Wilson capped a yeoman night by the bullpen by preserving a ninth-inning one-run lead and earning his first save of the season.
With the score tied 4-4, Rowand’s triple into the right-center field gap off Dodgers reliever Blake Hawksworth turned out to be the deciding blow of a back-and-forth affair. Rowand subsequently scored on a Hawksworth wild pitch, and that left it to the Sergio Romo and Wilson to finish the job. Romo pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Wilson followed with a dominant ninth, striking out the side.
The game began as though it would be a low-scoring pitching duel between Lincecum and Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley. Both pitchers faced the minimum over the first three innings, Lincecum allowing no hits while striking out three and Billingsley allowing just one Miguel Tejada hit that was quickly erased on a strikeout double play.
But both starters struggled to get through the fourth. After retiring the first batter in the top half, five straight Dodgers reached base against Lincecum. Jamey Carroll and Andre Ethier stroked back-to-back singles to center, setting up Matt Kemp’s first career RBI against the Giants’ ace on a double to right field that Aubrey Huff couldn’t run down.
James Loney then hit a slow roller to first baseman Brandon Belt, who clearly had a play at home but bobbled the ball for an error that allowed Ethier to score. Former Giant Juan Uribe followed with a double off the right field wall to score the third run.
The Giants answered right back against Billingsley, however. With one out, Freddy Sanchez doubled down the right field line and scored on Posey’s single to left. Pablo Sandoval followed with a double down the right field line to score Posey. Pat Burrell walked to keep the inning alive, but the rally died when Tejada grounded out.
San Francisco kept the offense rolling and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth, however. Belt, with just one hit in his previous 14 at-bats and his average dipping below .140, hit a flare single to left, advanced to second on a Lincecum sacrifice and scored on Rowand’s sharp single to left. Huff worked a walk on a tough 10-pitch at-bat against Billingsley, and Posey followed with single to center to drive home Rowand.
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, Kemp and Loney singled, then Lincecum hit Uribe with his 115th and final pitch of the night. But Guillermo Mota came in from the bullpen to end the threat, striking out Rod Barajas and getting Aaron Miles on a pop-up to third.
Los Angeles bounced back to tie the game in the top of the seventh on a leadoff pinch-hit homer by Marcus Thames off lefty Jeremy Affeldt.
— Story by Andrew Baggarly, San Jose Mercury News
