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Giants Give Up 3 Runs In 9th, Lose To Mets

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS / AP) -- Pinch-hitter Scott Hairston hit a tiebreaking home run off All-Star closer Brian Wilson in the ninth inning, leading the New York Mets past the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Friday night.

Hairston opened the ninth by sending a full-count pitch from Wilson (6-2) over the wall in left field for his fourth home run of the season. Carlos Beltran and Nick Evans added RBIs in the inning to help the Mets to their fifth victory in six games.

Nate Schierholtz tied the score in the sixth with a solo shot into McCovey Cove and drove in San Francisco's only other run with a sacrifice fly.

Reliever Pedro Beato (2-1) earned the win, and Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save.

Wilson kept his cool and refrained from tossing a water cooler or smashing it with a baseball bat, as he did when he blew a save at Detroit last week and went into meltdown mode. He was charged with two runs and only recorded one out.

The victory was a big boost for a Mets team in the midst of what could be a record of facing seven straight All-Star starters.

New York knuckleballer R.A. Dickey overcame tightness in his left buttocks and a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot to match Ryan Vogelsong, who was the second All-Star starting pitcher to face the Mets in as many days. Both starters allowed two runs in seven innings, and the few opportunities were a struggle.

After Beltran doubled leading off the fourth, Vogelsong walked the bases loaded with one out. The right-hander rebounded to get Josh Thole to ground into an inning-ending double play, and the Giants didn't waste the momentum.

Pablo Sandoval extended his career-best hitting streak to 19 games with a double off the wall in left to start the fourth. He scored from third on Schierholtz's sacrifice fly to center to give San Francisco a 1-0 lead.

New York didn't take long to answer.

Angel Pagan smacked a 1-0 pitch from Vogelsong over the brick wall in right to put the Mets ahead 2-1 in the fifth. The home run was Pagan's third this season, and only the second Vogelsong has given up at home.

San Francisco kept pace with the long ball when Schierholtz hit his first career home run into McCovey Cove to tie the score at 2 in the sixth. The homer was only the second splash shot of the season and 57th ever by a Giants player, with 35 belonging to all-time home run king Barry Bonds.
That was enough to keep Vogelsong's unbeaten streak intact.

The journeyman turned ace hasn't lost since allowing one run in a 3-1 loss to Florida on May 26. He struck out two, walked five and lowered his ERA to 2.17 -- fourth-best in the majors—in his final start before his first All-Star appearance.

NOTES: Mets 1B Ike Davis exercised on a treadmill the last two days and felt good, manager Terry Collins said. Davis will decide in the next week or so whether to try to return or have season-ending surgery to repair cartilage damage in his left ankle, which has sidelined him since May 11. ... The Giants placed 2B Bill Hall (left leg laceration) on the 15-DL and recalled SS Mike Fontenot. ... Announcers Al Michaels and Bob Costas called a portion of the game for the MLB Network and made appearances on the Mets and Giants broadcasts. It was the first time Michaels called a major league game since 1995.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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