It took 13 innings and 4 ½ hours but the San Francisco Giants got the come from behind win, beating the Washington Nationals 5-4 last night. With two outs and runners on first and third, Freddy Sanchez hit the RBI single out to right field to score the game-winning run erasing the work of Nats starting pitcher John Lannan, who only gave up two hits through the first six innings. The Giants improve their record to 27-33 in front of a nearly sold out crowd of more than 41,000 fans at AT&T Park.
This phot was taken by Jed Jacobsohn from Getty Images
The Giants started two-time NL Cy Young winning pitcher Tim Lincecum on the mound. The ace started the game just five K’s away from reaching the 1,000 strikeout mark. Lincecum got his 1000th strikeout after retiring the Nats batter Jerry Hairston to become just the 8th pitcher since the 1900’s to reach that feat in their first five seasons. But the night was bittersweet as Lincecum.
It’s hard to say a pitcher that just reached the 1,000 strikeouts didn’t have his best stuff but that’s exactly what happened to Lincecum last night. He gave up a solo homerun in the second and two more runs in the 3rd off a run double from Michael Morse to put his team in a 4-0 hole against a struggling Nationals team. Lincecum only pitched 5 innings before being pulled, the fewest he’s pitched all season.
The giants once again got off to a slow start offensively but got the magic going in the 7th with a lead off solo homerun from Aaron Rowand to get them back in the game. Then in the bottom of the 8th the never say die Giants scored three runs to tie it up at 4 apiece. The game stayed tied for five innings before Sanchez hit the game- winning RBI. This is the 8th Giants walk-off win this season, the second most in the league.
The Giants had a chance to win this game in the 10th but but just couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities leaving two runners stranded. Big ups have to go out to the Giants bullpen that was nearly exhausted for this win. Guillermo Mota, Santiago Casilla, Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez pitched eight no-hit innings. Relief pitcher Javier Lopez gets the win after 1 1/3rd perfect innings.
The Giants improve their season record to 34-26 by taking game 1 of the three game series against the Nationals. They now lead the NL West on a two game win streak. They play later today as the nationals look to even the series.
Watch video of Lincecum’s 1,000 strikeout
*Stats are from MLB.com*
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