San Francisco Giants win thriller in 14th

Forget about calling it the bullpen. Giants relievers hang out at the K Corral.

They combined for 13 strikeouts over eight scoreless innings and kept the San Diego Padres at bay long enough to pull out a 6-5, 14-inning victory at AT&T Park on Wednesday.

Nate Schierholtz won it with his second home run of the game, a high fly ball that barely reached the top of the brick wall in right field leading off the bottom of the 14th. Padres reliever Pat Neshek walked off the mound shaking his head in disbelief.

It was the Giants' 10th walk-off victory this season and the first career multi-homer game for Schierholtz.

He got the hero's welcome, with players mobbing him at home plate. But it was the Giants relievers who cleared his path.

"They won the game for us," manager Bruce Bochy said after the 3-hour, 52-minute epic. "They gave us a chance when we were down, and then they held it there."

The Giants improved to 8-5 in extra innings. Despite their season-long offensive woes, they moved to two games ahead of Arizona in the National League West.

San Diego, meanwhile, mounted nothing but a steady breeze against the Giants bullpen. Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo, for example, combined to strike out seven of the 14 batters they faced.

In all, the Giants tied the ballpark record for K's. That's 19 strikeouts -- and one walk-off.

"That home run could not have come at a better time," Bochy said. "That was a hard-fought
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game."

It was the last of several well-timed hits for the Giants. They tied it at 5-5 in the eighth when their hottest hitter came up at the right time. Pablo Sandoval blasted a two-run double, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games.

Hitting left-handed against right-handed reliever Mike Adams, Sandoval smoked a ball deep into the right-center alley to drive home Andres Torres from third and Brandon Crawford from first.

As Sandoval pulled into second base, he spread out his arms wide, like an eagle, then clapped his hands in triumph.

Sandoval deserved credit for a save in the top of the ninth when the Padres threatened against Wilson. San Diego had runners at the corners and one out. Wilson took care of Chase Headley on his own, getting a fastball for a swinging strike three, but Ryan Ludwick lashed a ball down the third-base line.

Sandoval dived to his right to snare Ludwick's hot shot, then threw across the diamond for the final out of the inning.

The late flurry of action, predictably, took place too late to do any good for Madison Bumgarner. The Giants made it an astounding 18th consecutive game at AT&T Park without scoring more than three runs with Bumgarner on the mound.

Bumgarner gave up five runs in six innings -- but he knew he had to be better. This was a matchup between a pair of starters with the National League's worst run support. Dustin Moseley was getting 2.21 runs per nine innings from the Padres while in games; Bumgarner was getting 2.74.

But it would be untrue to say Bumgarner got no support Wednesday. Andres Torres helped him with a sensational play to rob Jesus Guzman of extra bases in the top of the sixth. Guzman blasted a ball toward the 399-foot mark in center field. Torres sprinted with his back to the plate, turned to find the ball slicing behind him and caught it with an outstretched glove.

Torres also finished 3 for 6 with two doubles and two runs. His big game came a night after being irritated by Padres reliever Chad Qualls, who spiked the ball after tagging him out.

"I've said it before: Sometimes it's good to play angry," Bochy said. "Sometimes that's a good thing. He felt like (last night) was personal. What was important is that he handled it."

source:http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18426544