After jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead in the with Tim Lincecum on the mound, the game looked to be decided, but the Royals got to the young phenom forcing Bruce Bochy to turn to the bullpen for help. The bullpen was unable to stop the Kansas City bats, losing the series finale 11-10.
The Giants pitching staff took quite a beating tonight, and the two errors the defense made behind them did not help much either. Lincecum did strikeout eight batters, but also gave up five runs on six hits in five innings of work. Keiichi Yabu had a horrible outing, facing four hitters in the sixth inning, and allowing them all to reach base and score without recording an out. Jack Taschner allowed another run in the five-run sixth inning before being replaced by Vinnie Chulk who finished the inning. Alex Hinshaw allowed what would end up being the winning run in the seventh inning after Fred Lewis was given on error on a missed catch. Brian Wilson was successful in keeping it a one-run game, giving up just one hit in his inning and one-third pitched.
The offense was the only real good news, the San Francisco bats finally awoke from their recent slump, producing ten runs on sixteen hits. The Giants early and often, but the Royals were able to respond with some scoring of their own. San Francisco scored two runs in the first inning, three in the second, one in the third, and added four in the fifth inning. Both teams had no hits that were better than doubles. Lewis did his job as a leadoff man, reaching base in five of his six plate appearances with two walks, a single, two doubles, and two runs scored while driving in one. Ray Durham had a single and walked twice, scoring all three times he reached base. Randy Winn had a four hit day, all of hits were singles, scoring twice, and had three runs batted in. As the designated hitter, Bengie Molina went hitless in five at-bats. First baseman John Bowker went three-for-five with a double and two singles, driving in three runs. If the Giants can carry the offensive momentum into Cleveland, they should put up a good fight against the Indians.
From Kansas City, the Giants move onto Cleveland where Omar Vizquel will face his old team. With a day off on Monday, the series will begin on Tuesday at 4:05 p.m. Cleveland is having a disappointing year, battling injuries to their three and four hitters Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez, as well as losing some key starting pitchers. Jonathan Sanchez will face Aaron Laffey in the first game of the series.
