The Giants returned home yesterday to face the Cardinals in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. The series was tied, 1-1, after the Giants gave up a walk-off home run on Monday to the Cardinals in the ninth inning. After a crazy game, the Giants beat the Cardinals by a walk-off bunt in the tenth inning, 5-4.
It looked pretty good for the Giants with Tim Hudson on the mound, except when it came to Jon Jay and Kolten Wong. Hudson pitched 6 1/3 innings, with seven hits, one walk, four earned runs, and five strikeouts.
In the first inning, Buster Posey started the two out rally by singling and getting on base. Pablo Sandoval followed suit by singling and the Giants had two on with two outs. Hunter Pence hit a line drive double to right field, scoring Posey. The Cardinals walked Brandon Belt to get to Travis Ishikawa, who was moved to the seventh batting spot. Ishikawa doubled and cleared the bases, giving the Giants a four-nothing lead.
Wong did damage to the Giants yet again in the fourth inning when he tripled to center field, scoring the Cardinals’ first run of the game. Then things got weird, none of the Giants players hit the ball since the first inning, unless you count Hudson getting a hit in the fourth. The Cardinals began scoring runs in the sixth, and Jon Jay scored off a single by Jhonny Peralta. In the seventh inning Randal Grichuk tied the game by hitting a home run off Hudson.
With the game tied, it was up to the Giants relievers to keep the Cardinals at bay. Jeremy Affeldt got the Giants through the seventh and eighth innings. Bruce Bochy then went to his closer, Santiago Casilla, to finish the ninth. In the tenth, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo kept the Cardinals at bay and it worked.
The Giants rallied to win the game in the tenth inning. Brandon Crawford drew a leadoff walk to start the rally, and Juan Perez singled to get two on with Blanco on deck. Blanco laid down a bunt but it turned into an RBI after Cardinals pitcher Randy Choate overthrew the ball to first, allowing Crawford to score on the error.
The Giants now lead a best out of four series, 2-1, with two more games at home. Today Ryan Vogelsong is on the mound and will attempt to get the Giants one win closer to winning the National League.
