San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Buster Posey belted a two-run homer, adding more fodder to his rookie of the year candidacy, and the San Francisco Giants moved closer to their first playoff berth in seven years by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1, at AT&T Park.
Giants Again Look To Reduce NL West Magic Number With Thursday Matinee
The Giants' magic number to clinch their first NL West title since 2003 was trimmed to one after San Diego was dealt a 1-0 loss by the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. The Padres close out the regular season on the road against the Giants and must sweep the three-game series to force a one-game playoff for the division crown. There is still a chance both San Francisco (91-68) and San Diego (88-71) make the playoffs, but only if wild card-leading Atlanta (90-69) falters in its weekend series with the NL East-champion Phillies.
“We’re in a good position,” Posey said. “You can’t really take anything for granted. Baseball is a crazy game, so we’ve just got to come out and stay focused tomorrow.”
Pablo Sandoval and Andres Torres each hit solo home runs for the Giants, who swept this three-game series -- the third time they have broken out the brooms against the Diamondbacks this season -- and have won eight of their last 10 contests overall.
San Francisco rookie Madison Bumgarner (7-6) pitched out of a number of jams, surrendering one run in five innings of work. The southpaw recorded seven strikeouts and walked one.
Struggling rookie Barry Enright (6-7) gave up all three home runs in his five- plus inning start for the Diamondbacks. Enright has lost his last five starts.
“We want to be in (the Giants’) position next year,” Enright said. “That’s going to be our goal. That’s going to be what we’re striving for in the offseason, spring training and beyond.”
There were several missed opportunities for Arizona, which stranded a runner on second base in each of the first three innings. In the fourth, the Diamondbacks loaded the bases with one out and Bumgarner limited the damage to Enright’s game-tying sacrifice fly.
Bumgarner allowed consecutive one-out singles to Kelly Johnson and Chris Young in the fifth, but fanned Adam LaRoche and got Mark Reynolds to ground out to end the frame.
The Giants got on the board in the second inning, when Sandoval deposited an offering from Enright into McCovey Cove. Torres’ two-out shot in the fifth enabled Bumgarner to win at home for the first time in eight starts this year.
Posey followed a leadoff walk to Aubrey Huff in the sixth by clubbing his 17th home run of the season, a blast to the seats in left-center field.
Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo and Ramon Ramirez held Arizona hitless over the final four innings, with Ramirez picking up the save.
Bumgarner gave up seven hits...The Diamondbacks have lost four of their last six games...Arizona finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base...San Francisco won 13 of the 18 meetings with Arizona in 2010.
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