Matt Cain continued to perform well in the second half of the season last night, but Brian Wilson’s success was certain to run out at some point. After allowing Florida to tie the game at five in the top of the ninth inning, San Francisco won in walk-off fashion in the bottom half of the frame with a sacrifice fly, winning 6-5.
Cain pitched through a good seven and two-thirds innings, in which he allowed just two runs to score. In total he gave up five hits, walked four, and struck out four more hitters. The only real mistake he made was in the fourth inning when he gave Florida a 2-1 lead when Jeremy Hermida took him deep for two runs. Tyler Walker bailed him out of the eighth inning, to set the game up for Brian Wilson. After being sharp in his last couple save opportunities, Wilson finally blew one by allowing a pinch-hit, three-run homerun to John Baker that tied the game at five. All three outs that he recorded in the inning were strikeouts. The Giants offense would take him off the hook in the bottom half of the ninth, winning in walk-off style, 6-5!
San Francisco stepped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a leadoff homer by Randy Winn. Winn added two more hits, singles, and scored a run to give him a three-for-five day. The Giants regained the lead in the sixth inning, scoring three runs. Aaron Rowand also collected two hits, a double and a single while scoring a run. Dave Roberts scored the winning run in the ninth inning after leading off with a walk, and continued to score later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Bengie Molina. Pablo Sandoval played at first base and raised his average to an even .500 with two hits (a two-bagger, and a single) since being called up to the Major’s.
Rookie Matt Palmer will get the start this afternoon at 12:45 p.m. He was roughed up in his debut, but hopefully he has learned something since Saturday’s work out of the bullpen. Josh Johnson will start for the Marlins, he is 3-0 with a 3.38 earned run average this season.
