Nate the Great is well, Great

Nate Schierholtz was the man last night. In a game that kept you guessing who was going to win until the last minute, Schierholtz was the hero of the night and the man who got it done. He tied the game in the 9th and drove in the go-ahead and game-winning run in the 11th. Before we hit up the recap though, I will say the Giants did some good hitting last night. Cody Ross was amazing last night as well, hitting 4 of 5. In fact, the only position player that had more than 1 at-bat and didn’t get a hit was Miguel Tejada. He was 0 for 6. I’ll be so glad when Pablo gets back and Tejada gets SS stolen from Brandon Crawford. Moving along though…

After the first four innings, when the score was St. Louis 3, Giants 0, I had already began to think, “well, if we can win tomorrow, we can split the series, and I’ll take that.” Then it was as if the Giants remembered who was pitching. This was Timmy. We’re supposed to give our Ace run support. So who led off the 6th inning with a hit? That’s right, Nate Schierholtz. He singled, followed by a Cody Ross double which allowed Nate to score. First Giants run of the game belonged to Schierholtz. By the middle of the 6th, the Giants had tied it up and you felt certain at that point that they would win, at least maybe. The Cards remained scoreless in the bottom of the 6th.

In the 7th, Aubrey Huff, who is probably really tired of everyone talking about his slump, opted to shut them up and hit a solo home run to give the Giants the lead 4-3. At this point, we KNEW the Giants were going to win. But this was St. Louis, and this was their park, so they weren’t ready to give up yet. In the bottom of the 7th, they hit a home run and scored another run. If you’re keeping score now, it’s 5-4. Now, things aren’t looking so good.

And it stayed that way until the 9th. Tejada flied out (big surprise, huh?). Sanchez flies out. Two outs, top of the 9th and I’m pretty sure the team had started to pack up their belongings. Then Huff drew a walk and Mr. Schierholtz came to the plate. Lucky for him Huff had Burriss in to run for him because he stole 2nd and Schierholtz’s single to center field allowed Burriss to score. Giants 5, Cardinals 5.

Cards remain scoreless in the 9th and extra innings it is. After a scoreless 10th, Tejada promptly does his duty and grounds out in the top of the 11th. Freddy Sanchez hit a ground rule double and Burriss popped out. The man of the night when we needed hits came up. I think you just kind of knew at that point that he would get it done. And get it done, he did. He singled to right, allowing Sanchez to score and Schierholtz took 2nd base.  Cards intentionally walked Cody to get to Crawford, perhaps not hearing about Crawford’s Grand Slam in Milwaukee. Crawford shows them and singles to left, allowing Schierholtz to score and add one more insurance run. Giants 7, Cards 5.

Bottom of 9th, Wilson comes in to do his thing. After a lead off single, the Cards do what they do best and ground into the double play. I mean it, they have 71 GDPs this season. And you thought the Giants were bad. The Cards are so bad at the GDP that the next closest team (Angels) only have 56. So with two outs, bottom of the 9th, Wilson allows a runner to get on first. Then what happens? Lights out. Literally. Some of the lights went out in the park causing a game delay while they fixed them. Real convenient St. Louis. After about 15 minutes, lights are fixed. Wilson throws one pitch and Allen Craig grounds out to Freddy Sanchez.

Giants win 7-5.