The San Francisco Giants beat the Cubs 4-3 on Monday on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Pat Burrell. Madison Bumgarner didn't have his best game: 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 9 H; but the bullpen picked up the slack. Mota, Romo, Wilson, Ramirez, Lopez, and Ray combined for 5.1 shutout innings, allowing only 3 baserunners. This masterful job by the bullpen confirmed its depth after the Giants' thinned out their pitching staff by designating Todd Wellemeyer for assignment and calling up Emmanuel Burriss. The Giants hitting was not explosive, but ultimately got the job done. In the 5th inning, Andres Torres scored on a Buster Posey ground-rule double, and Renteria then scored on a wild pitch. In the 6th, Andres Torres came through again with an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. It would remain that way until the bottom of the 11th, when Buster Posey was intentionally walked to load the bases for Pat Burrell. Pat Burrell hit a deep flyball to center, and that was the difference in the game. Notes:
- After going 2 for 3 with 2 doubles and 2 walks, Pat Burrell is now 13 for his last 36 (.361 avg). 9 of his last 13 hits have been extra-base hits, and he's brought much-needed plate discipline to the Giants.
- Andres Torres was 2 for 5 with a double, and is now batting .354 over his last 18 games. He now has 36 doubles on the season, as he remains 2nd in the NL in doubles. 5 players are tied for 3rd in the NL in doubles with 29.
- Pablo Sandoval was 1 for 3. A lot can be said about his struggles, but he's hitting .323 at home. For what it's worth, ZiPs projects him to hit .304 for the rest of the season with 5 home runs. That would be significant to the Giants.
- Brian Wilson struck out the side. No baserunners. Dominated.
- The Giants improved to 34-20 at home. The National League finally won the All Star Game, so they get home-field advantage if they do happen to make it to the World Series...
- Uribe grounded into the only Giants double play on Monday. Giants are on pace for a franchise record 162 double plays. Their current franchise record? 153.
- Four Giants had multi-hit games, but more importantly the Giants had 11 walks.
3 more games against the Cubs, then a 3-game series against the Padres. What better way to build momentum for the crucial Padres series then to face the Cubs for 4 games at home!
Tomorrow's game: Giants take on Ryan Dempster tomorrow. Aaron Rowand should be left out of the lineup (1 for 13 career, .077 vs. Dempster), but you might just see Freddy Sanchez despite his recent struggles (6 for 17, .353 vs. Dempster). Oh yeah, and that guy Pat Burrell - 8 for 25 (.320) with 5 doubles and 7 walks against Dempster.
