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Giants gut out an extra-innings win for third in a row
By Jeremy Harness August 16, 2006 |
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Even if Mike Matheny comes back at 100 percent next season, Eliezer Alfonzo is making an outstanding case for him to occupy at least one of the catcher spots on the roster for many years to come. Alfonzo, who was hitting .292 going into Wednesday night’s game against the San Diego Padres, has gained a penchant for collecting key hits, and he continued that as the Giants sealed the series win over the Padres. Just as it seemed like the game would go on for several more innings, the rookie Alfonzo came in as a pinch hitter in the 13th inning and fought off an inside fastball, dropping it into left field. The two-out single scored Ray Durham to give the Giants the go-ahead run and lift them to their third straight win, 7-5, over the Padres at Petco Park Wednesday night. From there, Mike Stanton came in and, despite giving up a couple of base runners, was able to nail down his second save in a San Francisco uniform. The Giants were in position to win the game a little bit earlier, had it not been for some heroics - and another Armando Benitez tank job. Oftentimes in baseball, as ironic as it sounds, when a player makes a big play to end a half of an inning, that same player ends up getting a big hit in the same inning. Just ask (or try to ask) Barry Bonds about that irony. That’s what happened with Padres left fielder Ben Johnson in the 10th inning. After Durham’s single drove in Moises Alou and gave the Giants a 5-4 lead, Johnson robbed the following batter, Mark Sweeney, of at least a base hit to end the inning. Sure enough, Johnson led off the inning and, on a 2-2 count, sent an Armando Benitez fastball into the left-field seats to tie the game at 5-5. It was Benitez’s eighth blown save of the season after he had converted two straight saves to preserve one-run victories. Early on, it didn’t seem like the Giants were destined to win this game. Starter Noah Lowry gave up a run in each of the first four innings, including three solo home runs. However, Lowry would settle down and go scoreless for the next two innings before calling it a night after the sixth, and thankfully for him, he would end up with a no-decision, for which he can thank the suddenly-hot-again Durham. The second baseman doubled in a run in the top of the sixth to bring in Omar Vizquel, and in the eighth, he simply put one in play to allow a hustling Alou to score and tie the game at 4-4. Giants Notes: Barry Bonds had his 724th career home in the top of the 2nd off of San Diego’s starter Chan Ho Park. Bonds now has 1,903 career rbi’s with the homer, which ties him for seventh on the major league list with his godfather, who also played for the Giants, Willie Mays. Thursday’s afternoon game will have Matt Cain (8-9, 4.89ERA) on the mound for the Giants, and San Diego will have Jake Peavey (6-11, 4.58ERA) on the mound. |
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