Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY SPORTS
There aren’t many things that can make the San Francisco Giants smile at this point, especially after squandering a 6-0 lead to the Colorado Rockies in Tuesday night’s ballgame. But after taking Wednesday’s contest, 4-3, the Giants won the season series over their division rival. I suppose that’s something to crack a smile about.
San Francisco drove in two runs in the bottom of the eighth after back-to-back hits with the bases loaded, capped off by the game-winning base-knock by Brandon Belt. Belt has been making Giants fans smile for over five weeks now with the best offensive run of his young career, but the clutch hit has to be added confidence in the bright future for the first baseman.
The Giants’ starter from Wednesday afternoon’s game was Yusmeiro Petit, who made his first start since coming one strike short of a perfect game on Sept. 6. He allowed three earned runs in 5.1 IP, the most he’s allowed this season. He obviously wasn’t the same pitcher that came so close to perfection, but he didn’t pitch horribly like some thought he would following the near feat. He still was able to pinpoint his fastball and it showed early, as he sat the first 11 Rockies down in order.
All in all, Wednesday’s win must have felt very refreshing for the Giants. They snagged a late-inning win hours after playing a marathon game that ended as a 9-8 loss. Plus, manager Bruce Bochy was able to give the day off to Buster Posey — any win without Posey in the lineup feels like more than a win.
There’s no way the Giants thought they would be duking it out for third place in the NL West, nor did they think the season series with Colorado would come down this far into the season. Alas, Wednesday produced a bright spot in a dark season for the Giants. They won it in typical past Giants fashion: Scoreless bullpen and timely hitting. We’ll see if they can wash, rinse and repeat for a long road trip beginning with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
