Monday, Aug. 11, 2008

San Francisco Giants upend Dodgers in ninth

SAN FRANCISCO -- If the San Francisco Giants can't be a part of the race for the division title, a pair of come-from-behind wins against their rival Los Angeles Dodgers will have to do.

The Giants rallied against their NL West rival for the second day in a row, scoring two runs in the 10th inning to beat the Dodgers 5-4 on Sunday. Two losses in a row dropped LA 1½ games back of first-place Arizona in the division.

"It's always pretty fun to be able to walk the Dodgers off the field," Matt Cain said. "For these guys that are in contention, there's nothing better than to do that. They did it to us in '04."

Aaron Rowand, who had the game-winning hit Saturday, scored from third on Eugenio Velez's infield single to cap Sunday's comeback.

Rowand finished with four hits while Randy Winn went 3 for 4 with three RBIs for the Giants, who won their third consecutive series for the first time since April 18-26, 2007.

Hong-Chih Kuo allowed back-to-back singles to open the ninth, then got pinch-hitter Omar Vizquel to foul out to the catcher. Jose Castillo reached on an error to load the bases.

Emmanuel Burris followed with an infield grounder, beating the throw to first from shortstop Angel Berroa and allowing Randy Winn to score the tying run. Velez's two-out single went through the legs of Kuo and bounced off the glove of Berroa, sending Rowand home.