San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Wilson Valdez doubled in Raul Ibanez in the 11th inning, then scored on a dropped fly ball, as the Philadelphia Phillies held on for a 7-6 win over the San Francisco Giants in a wild game from AT&T Park.
Phillies Drop Giants In 11th Inning On Wilson Valdez’s RBI Double
San Francisco looked headed toward a three-game sweep of Philadelphia, as it was ahead by a 4-1 score with ace Tim Lincecum on the mound entering the top of the ninth.
But after Lincecum walked Shane Victorino with one out, Giants manager Bruce Bochy elected to remove his starter, and the game took on a completely different dimension, going from a duel between Lincecum and Cole Hamels to a game filled with bloop hits, close calls and wacky bounces.
Jayson Werth hit a three-run double in the ninth off Giants closer Brian Wilson to send the game to extras, while Ryan Howard finished 2-for-4 with a walk and a home run for the Phillies, who snapped a three-game slide.
Andres Torres went 2-for-6 and drove in three, including the game-tying run in the bottom of the 10th off Ryan Madson (1-0), who blew the save but ended up with the win.
Nate Schierholtz had a career-high five hits, walked and drove in a run in the bottom of the 11th, but the Giants fell one run short in losing for just the second time in their last six games. Sergio Romo (0-2) took the loss for giving up the deciding runs.
While neither Lincecum nor Hamels received a decision, both controlled the game prior to the final three innings. Lincecum had 11 strikeouts over his start while Hamels fanned 10, though the Giants rallied to score three runs in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead.
Lincecum kept that lead intact heading into the ninth inning and looked to be in line for the win even after his departure. Wilson retired his first batter, Placido Polanco, on a fly out to center.
But Chase Utley singled to put runners on the corners, and Wilson walked Howard after pitching around the slugger, loading the bases. Werth engaged Wilson in a battle of an at-bat, and eventually fought off the eighth pitch, sending a fly down the right field line. The ball bounced inches inside the chalk, clearing the bases to even the contest.
The Giants had a chance to take the win in the bottom half, but with two men on and two out, Matt Downs grounded into an inning-ending fielder's choice.
In the 10th, Jeremy Affeldt hit leadoff batter Brian Schneider, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and went to third on Victorino's single to center.
With Polanco up, Affeldt sent a fastball inside to the third baseman, who swung but didn't make contact as the ball caromed off the glove of Giants catcher Bengie Molina into foul territory. Schneider scored on the play for a 5-4 edge, though the Phillies couldn't take advantage of a bases-loaded chance later in the inning.
The Giants then rallied off Madson in the home half, when Torres’ broken-bat single into shallow right field plated Schierholtz, who had opened the inning with a double to right.
Torres stole second and went to third on a groundout to give his team another shot at the win, but following an intentional walk of Pablo Sandoval, Travis Ishikawa grounded out to second.
The decisive 11th inning began with an Ibanez single. He moved to second on a bunt, and two batters later Valdez drove a fly ball deep to left. Giants left fielder Eugenio Velez tracked the ball back but missed the catch by inches as he smacked into the wall, and Ibanez scored easily.
Valdez ended up on second, then scored an unexpected run on Victorino’s pop fly to left. Velez drifted over for the catch only to have the ball bounce off the tip of his glove, and because there were two outs, Valdez was able to score to make it a 7-5 game.
The Giants had another rally in them, however. With a runner on and one out, pinch-hitter Juan Uribe batted a ball off Nelson Figueroa's leg, and it rolled toward Howard. The first baseman's flip to Figueroa sailed behind the pitcher into foul territory, leaving runners on the corners with one out as rain began to fall.
Schierholtz smacked a hit to right to bring in Eli Whiteside, and with two runners in scoring position, the comeback seemed nearly inevitable -- even more so after the next batter, Velez, hit a grounder to first. However, Howard opted to throw home, and Schneider dove across the plate to apply the tag to Uribe for the second out. Torres followed with a groundout to second, ending the contest after more than three and a half hours.
After four scoreless innings, Howard put the Phillies on top by leading off the fifth with a homer. He drove Lincecum’s first pitch -- a fastball on the outer part of the plate -- over the left field wall for his first homer since April 10, a span of 65 at-bats.
Torres’ double in the home half scored Schierholtz, who had led off the inning with a single, to even the game, and the Giants tagged Hamels for three more runs in the sixth.
With the bases loaded and two away, Hamels walked Torres to force in a run, and Edgar Renteria hit a two-run single through the right side.
Utley finished 1-for-4, with the hit being the 1,000th of his career...Lincecum, who allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in 8 1/3 innings, recorded his 21st career game with double-digit strikeouts...Hamels allowed four runs on nine hits and four walks in six innings and notched his 13th game with at least 10 strikeouts...The Giants were aiming for their first series sweep of the Phillies since September 4-6, 2000...Before Wednesday, Wilson had not given up a run this season in 7 1/3 innings. Similarly, the Giants bullpen had not been scored upon in their last five games before Wednesday, a span of 13 innings...Figueroa got the first save of his career.
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