By Carl Steward, Contra Costa Times –
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants aren’t exactly rolling into Los Angeles for their first series against the Dodgers in full-speed locomotive mode, but things could be a lot worse.
For one thing, they avoided complete derailment. It was a strange 4-5 homestand at AT&T Park during which the Giants lost four in a row as well as Pablo Sandoval to hand surgery for the foreseeable future, but they nonetheless managed to leave town with the momentum of two weekend wins over Milwaukee.
“You know the drill — happy flight, man,” said Angel Pagan after the Giants blew a ninth-inning lead and another Matt Cain win but pulled out a 4-3 victory over the Brewers in 11 innings on pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez’s first-ever walk-off hit in pro ball.
It wound up being an even happier airplane ride when the Dodgers also blew their own ninth-inning lead Sunday and then lost in 11 innings at Chicago by the same 4-3 score. For good measure, slugger Matt Kemp’s status is uncertain for the Giants series after he developed a tight hamstring Saturday making an outfield play (Kemp merely pinch-hit Sunday).
So what could have been a six-game deficit heading into L.A. and Arizona this week is a mere four, and now it becomes a case of how the Giants respond to such an uptick in good fortune after the three-game malaise against Miami.
For Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s part, it’s never too soon in a season to make a statement against what likely will be his team’s two chief rivals in the National League West over the summer.
“It’s early in the season, but I don’t think you ever lose that sense of urgency,” Bochy said. “We’re going down to L.A., they’re playing very good — good pitching, good offense — and they’re ahead of us. So we’re going to have to play good ball.”
Sergio Romo, who pitched a perfect eighth inning Sunday and has yet to be scored upon this year, believes this will be an important road trip for the Giants to establish their identity against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks for the long haul.
“It’s never too early to go in there and let a team know, ‘Hey, we come to play,’ ” he said. “It’s good for them (the Dodgers) that they’re playing well. But I think they’re going to need to play well to beat a team like ours. We’re a good ballclub, and teams ought to be ready for us.”
Sunday was a gut-check win, to be sure. The Giants were all set to reward Cain with a victory after taking a 3-2 lead down to the last strike in the ninth. But with a runner on first and two outs, former Giant Travis Ishikawa worked closer Santiago Casilla to a 3-2 count, then slapped a double into the left-center gap that tied the score.
But San Francisco got scoreless bullpen work from Clay Hensley and Javier Lopez in the 10th and 11th to set up the game-winning rally against the Brewers’ sixth pitcher, side-arming right-hander Tim Dillard.
Buster Posey opened the inning with a single, and after Emmanuel Burris pinch-ran for him. Pagan, who earlier ran his hitting streak to 20 games with a fourth-inning double, sacrificed the winning run to second. Brandon Belt was intentionally walked and Ryan Theriot also walked to load the bases. Dillard worked back from a 3-0 count to 3-2 against Sanchez, but the rookie catcher punched a ball over third base into left to win the game. Lopez (3-0), who got the final out in the top of the 11th, got the victory.
Sanchez was elated to get the game-ending hit, particularly as a pinch-hitter.
“It was my first one ever,” said Sanchez through an interpreter. “I never had one in the minors. I never even had one in winter ball (in Venezuela). I was just trying to get the ball to the outfield as far as possible.”
Cain, meanwhile, didn’t mind sacrificing another win on his ledger as long as the club pulled out the victory. He gave up just six hits and two runs over seven innings and struck out 10. His ERA is 2.38 even though he’s still just 1-2, but he maintained the club straightening itself out after being swept by Miami was all that really mattered to him.
“It was big for us,” he said. “We felt we should have won the games against Miami, and you know, we didn’t. Then losing to these guys (the Brewers) Friday night really put a bitter taste in our mouth. We needed to get back on the right track, and I think the last two days we did that.”
Bochy said before the game that a decision hadn’t been made on Aubrey Huff’s activation from the disabled list (anxiety disorder) and probably won’t be made until Monday. Bochy met with Huff on Sunday morning to assess his readiness, but when asked about possible options noted that a rehab assignment is also a possibility.
“We’re going to get with Aubrey to see where he’s at,” Bochy said. “This is a little different situation, so we want to make sure he’s fine. If he needs a few games on the rehab, then that’s the way we’re going to go.”
