The San Francisco Giants have been white hot lately as winners of four in a row, and turned to Jonathan Sanchez this evening to extend it to five. And after a laborious fight by the Sanchize, an Aubrey Huff Homer, and a big night from Miguel Tejada, the Giants took out the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second night in a row by a score of 4-3 at AT&T Park.
Sanchez (W 3-2) seemed to have some issues with the control of his fastball, but managed to claw his way for 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 7 punch outs. Skipper Bruce Bochy pulled out all the stops when it came to the bullpen, using Ramon Ramirez, Javier Lopez, and Sergio Romo in 2 innings of combined perfect work. Brian Wilson continued his terrific homestand by recording his twelfth save of the season despite giving up a leadoff double in the ninth.
Aside from Huff’s homer in the fifth, his fourth or the year, the Giants got some great hitting from the slumping Miguel Tejada. Miggy was 3-4 including a double and an RBI, boosting his average up to .213 for the year now. Andres Torres had himself a great night as well, going 2-3 with an RBI ground rule double in the sixth. All of the starting positional players for the G-Men got a hit except for Aaron Rowand and Mike Fontenot, but Rowand still scored a run on a wild pitch by Armando Galarraga in the fourth.
Galarraga (L 3-3) continued his slide after starting the year 3-0, lasting for 5.1 innings while allowing 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Henry Blanco was responsible for 2 of the D’backs 3 runs with an RBI single in the second and a solo home run in the fourth. But the Giants managed to battle back from their early deficit to get their fifth win in a row.
With the win the Giants move to 20-16 on the year and into a temporary tie with the Colorado Rockies atop the NL West as they were postponed due to weather against the Mets. Full box score can be found here.
The Giants will be going for their second sweep in a row tomorrow as Matt Cain (2-2 3.38 ERA) will be on the bump to face the Diamondbacks Daniel Hudson (3-4 4.47 ERA). First pitch is set for 12:45 tomorrow afternoon with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.