[新聞] Giants break out in big inning to top Dodgers
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Giants break out in big inning to top Dodgers
By Adam Berry / MLB.com | 9/11/2011 10:31 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- After Brandon Crawford's flyout to left field ended a
five-run sixth inning in which the Giants batted around, the sold-out crowd
at AT&T Park responded with a standing ovation.
There haven't been many occasions this season to cheer for an offensive
outburst by the Giants, but Sunday presented a rare opportunity as San
Francisco snapped a three-game losing streak during which it totaled only two
runs with an 8-1 win over the Dodgers.
"It's obviously good," said Aubrey Huff, who finished 2-for-4 with a double
and two RBIs. "It seems to be starting a little late."
The five-run frame was the Giants' first at home this season and their first
overall since July 2, when they scored five twice in a 15-3 win over the
Tigers. And they hadn't scored eight runs in more than a month, last doing so
Aug. 3 against Arizona, the only other time they scored at least eight runs
at home this season.
Manager Bruce Bochy said before the eight-run outburst that the Giants, the
lowest-scoring team in the Majors, wanted to finish the season strong, at
least putting a positive end note on what has been an otherwise disappointing
World Series title defense -- one that has them sitting 8 1/2 games behind
National League West leader Arizona with 16 games remaining.
Given their struggles at the plate all year, there isn't much reason to
believe this will mark some sort of turnaround for the Giants. But at the
very least, it was a long-overdue performance in front of their home crowd.
"Nice to see. It's been a while. It's been a tough road here, especially here
at home," Bochy said, referring to the Giants' recent 9-16 record at AT&T
Park. "It just shows we have it in us. We just haven't done it consistently.
We're better than what we've done, and we know it. I thought today we had
some real quality at-bats."
Three of those came from Pablo Sandoval, who went 3-for-4 with a career-high
three doubles, including a go-ahead RBI blast off the left-field fence in the
fifth. Two more came from Brandon Belt, who drew a walk after falling behind
0-2 and later slammed a double off the wall in right field.
Coming to the end of a disappointing offensive season, Huff had a big game at
the plate. Catcher Eli Whiteside drove in a game-tying run in the second
inning. Everyone in the Giants starting lineup reached base at least once,
save Carlos Beltran (0-for-5) and pitcher Madison Bumgarner.
But Bumgarner certainly did his part to contribute amid the rare offensive
outburst. The 22-year-old left-hander continued to show that he has only
gotten stronger as the season has worn on. He ran his pitch count up to 101
in five innings, picking up his fourth straight win after striking out eight
batters and allowing one run on three hits and three walks (one intentional).
Reliever Guillermo Mota allowed a hit and a walk in the sixth inning, but he
combined with Dan Runzler, Steve Edlefsen and Waldis Joaquin to give up no
other baserunners through four innings against a Dodgers club that simply
looked tired at the end of a four-city, 10-game road trip.
"The guys really did a good job battling," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly
said. "I told them afterward I was proud of the way they battled."
Sitting at 11-12 on the year despite enjoying a sensational season in
virtually every other statistical category, Bumgarner has a chance to finish
above .500 despite the Giants losing 11 of his first 15 starts.
But Bumgarner isn't worried about wins and losses. He would much rather eat
up innings and become known as a workhorse capable of pitching 200-plus
innings for five straight years like teammate Matt Cain has done.
"As long as we get a win out there, that's all I care about. I said it
before, and it hasn't changed," Bumgarner said. "I'm not worried about the
wins and losses, but I'd like to go deep into games and be a guy who gets 200
innings for the team every year."
His lone earned run came in the second, when Tony Gwynn lined a double to
right field that scored Aaron Miles. But the Giants bounced back with eight
runs, starting in the bottom of the second. Whiteside's ground-ball single to
left scored Huff, who reached on a double off the top of the center-field
wall -- a hit so close to being a home run that it had to be upheld by video
review.
"The way my season's gone, I was just hoping he didn't catch it," said Huff,
who picked up his first RBI and his first multihit game in two weeks. "I was
touching first and everybody thought it was a homer, and I'm like, 'Homer? I
hit it high enough to get out?'"
Huff added an RBI single when the Giants took the lead with a two-run fifth.
Then came the big inning for the Giants, something not often seen this
season, that brought the crowd to its feet. Dodgers reliever Hong-Chih Kuo
walked the first two batters he faced, and Andres Torres dropped a sacrifice
bunt to advance both. The Dodgers brought in lefty Josh Lindblom, whose first
assignment was a curious decision to intentionally walk Cody Ross. Up came
Keppinger, who lined a two-run double to center field to put the Giants up by
four runs.
Los Angeles sent in lefty Scott Elbert, who struck out Beltran and
intentionally walked Sandoval to load the bases. Huff then drew a run-scoring
walk off Elbert, and Mark DeRosa followed that with a pinch-hit, two-run
single to center field to make it 8-1.
"Hitting's contagious, man. You can tell when we got a three-run lead and
everybody kind of relaxed and we started scoring more," Huff said.
"Unfortunately, so is not hitting. It kind of turns into a contagious deal as
well. ... That's the way it's been all year for us."
Adam Berry is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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