May 11, 2008 7:55 pm US/Eastern
Phillies Continues To Struggle With Giants
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―
Steve Holm entered the game as a defensive replacement at
catcher, then delivered the biggest hit of the day.
Holm hit a go-ahead,
two-run drive in the seventh inning for his first major league home run, and
the San Francisco Giants held on for a 4-3 victory in the rubber game against
the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
Holm homered in his
first at-bat on the first pitch he saw from J.C. Romero (3-1) after replacing
Bengie Molina in the top of the seventh, sending the ball into the seats in
left-center. Romero had allowed only one homer in his previous 61 appearances
and came in with an 0.63 ERA over his first 17 outings of 2008.
Jack Taschner (2-0)
pitched the seventh for the win, Tyler Walker worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Brian
Wilson finished for his 11th save in 13 opportunities. San Francisco rallied for
its first series win this month in three chances.
The Phillies went ahead
3-2 in the fifth when Pat Burrell hit a sacrifice fly after Ryan Howard's first
triple of the year. Howard's hit drove
in a run and chased San Francisco
starter Jonathan Sanchez.
Phillies starter Adam
Eaton drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to tie it at 1.
The Giants snapped a
season-long five-game losing streak with an 8-2 victory Saturday, then managed
just enough offense Sunday. San Francisco hadn't
won a series since beating the Rockies two out of three at home to end April,
including dropping two of three in Philadelphia
from May 2-4.
Reigning NL MVP Jimmy
Rollins went 0-for-5 in his third game back from a disabled list stint with a
sprained left ankle. He had three hits Friday in his return, missing the cycle
by a triple.
The Bay Area native
from nearby Alameda
used a pink bat with his mom's name on it—Gigi—for Mother's Day and breast
cancer awareness. She was once a standout middle infielder for the Allen Temple Baptist
Church women's fast-pitch
softball team.
"My mom never made outs,"
Rollins said before the game.
San Francisco's Ray Durham struck out as a
pinch hitter to leave the bases loaded in the sixth, and the Giants missed
several other scoring opportunities.
John Bowker singled in
a run in the second to give San
Francisco a 1-0 lead, but Jose Castillo followed by
grounding into an inning-ending double play. The Giants hit into double plays
again in the third, fourth and sixth innings—Castillo doing so in the fourth
and sixth.
Omar Vizquel was
intentionally walked three times in the eighth hole to bring up the pitcher,
but Durham
pinch-hit in the sixth. That's after
Vizquel got three hits in his season debut Saturday, when he returned following
Feb. 27 arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
The intentional free
passes were the most by a Giant since indicted home run king Barry Bonds drew
four against Houston
on Sept. 22, 2004.
San
Francisco left-hander Barry Zito (0-7) will try again for his first
victory of the season Monday when the Giants face Astros ace Roy Oswalt in the
opener of a four-game series with Houston.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
