Giants Rally To Defeat Cardinals In 11 Innings
ST. LOUIS (CBS / AP) -- Nate Schierholtz hit a tying single with two outs in the ninth inning, then got the go-ahead hit in the 11th inning as the San Francisco Giants shook off a poor outing by Tim Lincecum to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 on Wednesday night.
The game was delayed for 16 minutes with two outs in the bottom of the 11th when large sections of two light standards failed. Play resumed with a 2-1 count on Allen Craig, and Brian Wilson needed one pitch to get a game-ending grounder for his 15th save in 17 chances.
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Cody Ross had four hits and an RBI and Freddy Sanchez had a three-hit game for the Giants, who came from behind twice and won for only the third time in nine games.
Sergio Romo (3-0) worked the 10th.
Craig's two-run, pinch-hit homer chased Lincecum in the seventh, putting the Cardinals up 5-4. The two-time NL Cy Young winner struck out nine but gave up a career high-tying 10 hits and threw two wild pitches, one of them scoring a run.
Lincecum was 3-1 with a 1.22 ERA in May, allowing only six earned runs in 36 2-3 innings. Before fading in the seventh he had retired eight of nine batters, five on strikeouts with the lone runner on a hit batsman.
Schierholtz and Brandon Crawford had RBI singles in the 11th off Ryan Franklin (1-4), pitching on the second straight night and in his second inning. Ryan Theriot had two hits and an RBI to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games for St. Louis, which gave Jake Westbrook a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
Aubrey Huff's homer off Miguel Batista ended a 6-for-38 slump and put the Giants ahead 4-3 in the top of the seventh.
Craig is 18 for 40 (.450) since May 19 and is 5 for 11 with a home run, three doubles and four RBIs in the first three games of a four-game series. He and Jon Jay should both garner more playing time with Matt Holliday likely to be placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday.
Lincecum walked on five pitches to load the bases in the fourth after the Cardinals elected to intentionally walk eighth-place hitter Eli Whiteside. Westbrook escaped by striking out Andres Torres, giving the Giants seven stranded runners the first four innings.
Westbrook's only clean inning was the fifth, but the Giants opened the sixth with three straight hits and a sacrifice fly and chased him on Torres' two-out RBI double. Torres had been an easy out his first three at-bats with two strikeouts and a groundout to first.
Theriot had an RBI single in the third and the Cardinals made it 3-0 in the fourth on a wild pitch and Skip Schumaker's single that barely eluded both middle infielders.
NOTES: The Giants' Class A affiliate in San Jose set a team record with its 12th straight victory Tuesday. ... Pat Burrell, in a 4-for-25 slump, fouled out as a pinch-hitter on a 3-0 pitch in the eighth. He's started only eight of the Giants' last 22 games. ... Lincecum has given up 10 hits three times, the previous time on May 15, 2009 against the New York Mets. ... Huff leads the Giants with 24 RBIs but has only four in the last 17 games and had been batting only .175 against right-handers, among the worst in the league, before the homer. ... Lincecum threw one wild pitch his first 11 starts.
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