The Giants win over Phillies in the bottom of the 9th, 6-5
The San Francisco Giants barely beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night in San Francisco, 6-5.
The game was a good one, with a rookie giving a good performance, a player too injured to start coming through, and a slouching slugger rising at the right moment, taking the Giants just one win away from the World Series.
Juan Uribe, who didn’t start because of a sore wrist, hit a sacrifice fly-off off Roy Oswalt to clinch the victory for the Giants, who are now 3-1 in the National League Championship Series.
"It seems like all the baseball talk is all East Coast", said Aubrey Huff, after his game winning run. "Everybody watching tonight saw exactly how we've played all year".
Another big hit by latecomer Cody Ross, two RBIs and four hits from Buster Posey, a rookie, and a double from straggler, Pablo Sandoval, pushed the two times defending NL champion Phillies to the edge of elimination.
"Who doesn't want to play now? I want to be here", Uribe said. "In that moment, everybody knew my wrist was hurting a little bit. I think that's why he threw a lot of fastballs in because he knew. I was trying to hit the ball deep enough to get the run home
and for us to win the game".
Pitcher for the Giants, Brian Wilson, pitched a perfect ninth inning after being motivated by Uribe’s difficult out.
"I got butterflies," said Wilson, who is the MLB saves leader. "I got anxiety. I got a mini-ulcer developing, but it's all worth it. We never lost focus".
The game started with Philadelphia at bat, with Madison Bumgarner pitching for the Giants, although the Phillies had no hits.
The Giants scored their first point in their first at-bat in the bottom of the 1st. Freddy Sanchez hit a single to left field, and then advanced to second base after a wild pitch by Joe Blanton, who was pitching for the Phillies. After another
wild pitch by Blanton, Sanchez ran to third and then to home after a single by Posey, making the score 1-0, to the Giants, at the end of the 1st.
The next run was by the Giants in the bottom of the 3rd. Huff singled to the right and then ran home after Posey doubled to deep left centre field, putting the Giants ahead by two points, 2-0.
Philadelphia made their first run in the top of the 5th, with a total of four runs in one inning. Ben Francisco started the inning with a single. Carlos Ruiz then hit another one, to push Francisco to second base. Blanton then sacrificed to Bumgarner,
allowing Francisco to get to third base, and Ruiz to second. A single by Shane Victorino allowed Francisco to score, and Ruiz was tagged out at home. Chase Utley then hit a single to right centre, putting him on first and Victorino on second. After Santiago
Casilla replaced Bumgarner, Placido Polanco hit a double to deep centre field, allowing Victorino and Utley to score.
Ryan Howard then intentionally walked and Jayson Werth was hit by a pitch to put Polanco at third, Howard at second, and Werth at first. With the bases loaded, Casilla made a wild pitch, allowing Polanco to score, Howard to move to third, and Werth to second.
The score was now 2-4, with the Phillies ahead, after being down two.
San Francisco then came to bat in the bottom of the 5th, with Andres Torres walking, and then advancing to second off of a grounder by Edgar Renteria. Sanchez then hit a line drive to centre to make the pitch fully loaded, followed by a single
by Huff, allowing Torres to run home, the score was now 3-4
The next score was by the Giants in the bottom of the 6th. With Pat Burrell on third and Ross on second, Sandoval hit a double to deep centre, with Burrell and Ross coming in to score, putting the Giants ahead again, 5-4.
The Phillies then evened the score in the 8th, with Howard scoring after a double by Werth. The score was now 5-5
The tiebreaking run was scored in the bottom of the 9th, on the last out, with Uribe hitting a sacrifice fly to the left, allowing Huff to make the game winning run.
Game 5 of the playoffs will take place on Thursday October 21, 2010 at AT&T Park at 7:57pm ET. If the Giants win this game, they advance to the World Series. Only time will tell what the outcome will be.
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