Bizzaro Bullpen

Now that was an exciting game. Giants beat the Cardinals, 6-5, in a 12 inning affair that ends with a walk-off RBI single from Rich Aurilia. The game was almost 4 hours long and it prompted me to stay up till after 2 AM to watch the conclusion. I just couldn’t pull myself away from it.

The game was a roller coaster that included Bonds going deep to tie the game, weird moves by LaRussa, and the bullpen doing a very respectable job. I’m not a huge believer in team chemistry or momentum but this win has got to boost team morale substantially.

Let’s take a look at some game notes:

• The bullpen, outside of Taschner’s bases-loaded walk, did a excellent job of keeping the Giants in the game. The pen threw 5.1 solid innings of baseball. Benitez looked outstanding. How often do Giants fans get to write that phrase? His split was on point and he even got cheered after working his scoreless 9th inning, one in which he made Pujols weakly ground out to Omar.

• Continuing the bullpen theme, the real hero was Jonathan Sanchez who was asked to come in and eat some innings. Only Correia and Chulk were remaining in the bullpen and both had pitched the day before and needed rest. Sanchez pitches 3 innings, gives up 2 hits, no runs, and strikes out 3. He also nailed Pujols at the plate on a failed double steal in which Pujols bolted towards home. Sanchez showed great poise wiggling out of some stressful situations to earn the win.

• Pujols getting thrown out while trying to steal home was unbelievable. He probably would have made it too when Molina bobbled the throw home from Sanchez. Instead, Pujols put on the brakes giving Molina time to regain control of the ball and was tagged out at the dish.

• Matt Morris pitched well enough to win but he was hurt by the longball, giving up a 2 run shot to Pujols. Matt’s ERA didn’t take a hit from the game because 4 of his 5 runs were unearned after Pedro Feliz let a throw from him doink off of his glove for an error. Despite some scary peripherals, Morris has been getting the job done. He’s going to need to cut down on his walks if he wants to continue being successful.

• Bonds hit a shot in the 8th to tie the game at 5. Huge AB from Barry that allowed the game to go into extras. So far this season Bonds is hitting very well (.306/.458/.694) the 16 million he’s making doesn’t look so bad now does it?

• Finally, Aurilia continues to hit. Extending his hitting streak to 11 games with a 2 for 6 night that included a triple and the walk-off RBI single.

Giants pick up a much needed win after the loss in Colorado. Now if Bochy would please just stop using Alfonzo as a pinch hitter we might be onto something here.