I know I shouldn't care since this is a rebuild season, but I was emotionally invested into the game praying for a Giants' win.
In a game between two offensively-challenged clubs in a cavernous ballpark, the Giants pulled through with a nail-biting 3-2 win in 13 innings.
The ageless one, Greg Maddux, was pitching for his career 350th win for the Padres. The odds of the milestone happening against the Giants was good. The Giants have not beaten Maddux in 5 years and they were the team involved in Maddux's 300th win and 3000th strikeout.
The Giants threw out the unluckiest player on their team to face Maddux--Matt Cain. Cain receives the least amount of run support among all the starting pitchers and when he does leave the game with the lead, the bullpen usually coughs it up.
The style of pitching between the two players were complete opposites. Maddux is a master of control and throws around the low 80s. Cain is a bit on the wild side but is able to hump up into the mid-90s. Both pitchers held the other team in check until the 5th inning when the Padres scored one run against Cain.
Fast forward to the top of the ninth with the league leader in saves, Trevor Hoffman, on the mound. Randy Winn had just flied out and Bengie Molina was down 0-2. It looked like Cain was going to receive another tough luck loss. Molina worked the count to full and then cranked a low, inside fastball into the left field seats. Cain was off-the-hook for the loss, which must be the best feeling for him in a while.
Four innings later in the 13th, Emmanuel Burriss started off the inning with a clean double down the right field line. Fred Lewis on an 0-4 night, dumped a single into center to score Burris. Rowand followed up an intentional walk to Molina with a single of his own to score Burriss for an insurance run. It was nice to see the kids make things happen. This is what every Giants' fan has been hoping to see all season.
The bottom of the ninth was a killer for the old ticker. Brian Wilson's control was not at its best. Wilson loaded the bases on a single, walk and another single with nobody out. A sac fly scored a run to push the score to 3-2. Wilson walked Josh Bard to load the bases a second time with Tadahito Iguchi at the plate. With Wilson's shaky control, Iguchi gave the Giants a gift hitting a bouncer to Burris for a game-ending fielder's choice. A few years were shaved off my life sitting through the inning.
Although, Maddux was not able to write another chronicle in his legacy, Burriss was able to start his with his first game-winning run and first fielded ball in the big leagues.
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