It was a do or die evening for the San Francisco Giants, and luckily they came through against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Matt Cain fought though D'backs all night, Cody Ross blasted himself out of his slump, and the Giants took a bite out of Arizona's lead by a score of 6-2 at AT&T Park.
Cain (W 11-9) was strong in his eight innings of work this evening, allowing only two earned runs on five hits, along with four walks and three strikeouts. The All-Star right hander worked his out of a couple of jams, yielding only a Miguel Montero RBI double in the first and an Aaron Hill sacrifice fly in the fifth. Cain even helped his own cause with a single and a walk, scoring both times he got on base.
Jeff Keppinger's RBI double in the third missed going over the wall by about a foot, plating Cody Ross after a lead off walk. Carlos Beltran would drive in Kep later that inning with a homer to left center, his 17th of the year; Beltran finished the night 4-4 with a triple, and another RBI single to go along with his dinger. Cody Ross broke out of his slump in a big way, going 3-2 with a clutch double and a two run homer in the seventh his 11th on the year. Pat Burrell took two great walks, not added anything with his bat but still being productive in his return.
Joe Saunders (L 9-2) lasted only five and 2/3 for Arizona tonight, allowing all four runs on six hits, with four walks and three punch outs along the way. The Giants moved to five games back in the NL West, while ending Arizona's nine game winning streak.
With the win the Giants move to 73-65 on the year. Full box score can be found here.
The Giants will send out Tim Lincecum (12-11 2.58 ERA) on Saturday to take on Cy Young hopeful Ian Kennedy (17-4 3.03 ERA). First pitch is set for 6:05 pm PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.
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