Giants Win!!!

It began as a 2 hit gem for Jonathan Sanchez who ended up striking out 11 batters along the way. Those 11 strikeouts would have been a Giants post-season record except for the 14 Ks that Lincecum had in game 1 of the series. The Giants starters have not allowed an earned run in the series so far and that is just unbelievable. Cain had an unearned run in game 2 but that's all the starters have allowed. The rotation is the strength of this team and the Braves have been unable to put much offense against them so far. Giants setup man Sergio Romo on the other hand has been dreadful. He gave up two hits to the braves without getting an out in game two and tonight he gave up the go-ahead home run to pinch hitter Eric Hinski in the bottom of the 8th. The Giants were down to their last strike with two outs in the ninth and a runner on first when Freddy Sanchez (my favorite Giant) singled to put the tying run in scoring position. Then Aubrey Huff, who has struggled at the plate in the series so far, singled sharply to right field to plate Travis Ishikawa and tie the game up at 2 runs a piece. Sanchez moved to third on the throw home, which was wide and the Braves catcher Brian McCann moved up the line tripping on Huff's bat and falling hard on his wrist. Then Buster Posey appeared to ground out to the Braves second baseman Brooks Conrad but it skipped through between his legs in a very Bill Buckner-esque play that allowed Sanchez to score easily as he was running on contact with two outs. It was the third error by the Braves second baseman in the game and his 4th in the series. The Braves have been hobbled by injuries to a few of their infielders as well as their closer Billy Wagner and those injuries are turning out to have a huge effect on the series so far. I will not be surprised if Conrad is run out of town post haste if Atlanta fails to progress. This kind of win is exactly what the Giants needed after a tough extra inning loss in game 2. They now have the momentum and Lincecum in reserve if a game 5 becomes necessary. Overall it was a roller coaster ride of a game but it ended well and was an even bigger gut punch than the Braves handed us the game before. It's nice to know that the Giants can come back from the brink this way because that's what champions do. Game 4 tomorrow, go Giants!