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| Winn's second homer completes Giants' sweep SAN FRANCISCO 4, ARIZONA 3 |
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PHOENIX (Ticker) -- While Randy Johnson was overpowering hitters, the San Francisco Giants called upon their own Randy to supply some might. Winn belted his second home run of the game in the ninth inning, snapping a tie and leading the Giants to a 4-3 triumph over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. Winn, who also swatted a solo shot off Johnson in the fourth, led off the ninth by depositing a 1-0 offering from Chad Qualls (0-5) over the left field wall, giving San Francisco a 4-3 edge. "You have to be able to capitalize on mistakes and take advantage of them," a modest Winn said. "It was just a fastball up over the plate," Qualls said. "I was just trying to get strike one on him. I didn't think he could do what he did. Obviously, he did. That's the life of a reliever - you go out there and save the game, you're still tied and have a chance to win, 10 minutes later, all of a sudden you're the goat." The blast also completed the fourth career multi-homer effort by Winn, who last accomplished the feat against Arizona on September 30, 2005. The veteran outfielder's second homer made a winner of Tyler Walker (3-3), who struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning. Brian Wilson worked a perfect ninth for his National League-leading 16th save for the Giants, who swept their three-game series with the Diamondbacks and evened the season set at four wins apiece. "The bullpen did a great job, starting pitching and Randy Winn had a huge day," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Got some breaks in the eighth, but you take it. It was a great series for us, a great way to finish a good road trip." Justin Upton launched his seventh homer and Johnson struck out nine in seven innings to climb into a tie for second place on the all-time list for the Diamondbacks, who have lost four in a row. Upton opened the scoring in the second frame with a solo homer, his first blast in 18 games. But Winn forged a tie two innings later with his third shot of the season and Omar Vizquel delivered an RBI single later in the fourth to give San Francisco a 2-1 edge. Conor Jackson drew Arizona even in the bottom of the inning with a run-scoring base hit and Upton plated Mark Reynolds with a triple in the sixth to put the Diamondbacks ahead. Johnson made the lead stand before leaving after seven innings. The towering lefthander, who allowed two runs, six hits and two walks, also pulled even with Roger Clemens for second place on the all-time strikeout list with 4,672 by fanning Dan Ortmeier in the seventh. "He pitched great, just had the one inning where they squared him up a little bit, but other than that..." Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "Once again, pretty consistent with his last couple of outings. Nine strikeouts in seven innings. We're seeing pretty consistent outings out of him every time now. He's throwing the ball where he wants to, he's getting strikeouts. He seems to be more comfortable on the mound every time out." Johnson was more interested in getting his team a victory than continuing to play leapfrog with Clemens on the strikeout list. "I did it last year, then I got hurt, then he passed me. It's kind of a moot point," Johnson said. "Winning ballgames is the most important thing, to go out there and pitch a good ballgame. If we would have won, that would have been the big thing." Once the five-time Cy Young Award winner departed, the Giants took advantage of Tony Pena's wildness to knot the contest. After retiring leadoff hitter Aaron Rowand in the seventh, Pena walked Bengie Molina. Ray Durham reached on an error by first baseman Jackson and, following a groundout by Vizquel, the righthander hit John Bowker with a pitch to load the bases. Batting for Ortmeier, Fred Lewis then drew a walk from Pena to force in pinch runner Emmanuel Burriss with the tying run. "We were fortunate enough to catch a break in the eighth," Winn said. "Some good at-bats, the Freddy Lewis pinch hit, does a good job of getting a walk to get the tie." San Francisco starter Barry Zito came through with his fifth straight solid performance, yielding three runs and six hits in six innings. The high-paid lefthander, who lost his first eight decisions of the season before ending the slide against Florida on Friday, walked three and struck out five. "Randy (Johnson) was good tonight, but we came out on top," Zito said. "I felt pretty good. Just got to take every day one at a time and not worry about anything else but focus on the moment." "I thought Zito threw well," Bochy said. "He kept us there, gave us a chance." |
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