Wilson Struggles in Vain to Blow Save; Giants Win, 3-1

See, the bat is a metaphor for the Giants bullpen

Well, Madison Bumgarner threw a hell of a game tonight, and Bruce Bochy once again allowed his starter to go out to pitch the eighth inning with a ~100 pitch count. That sound you heard around 9:15 tonight was a million Giants fans holding onto their butts.

Luckily, he had a short shutdown eighth inning. The criminally underutilized Sergio Romo began warming up in the bullpen during the eighth. You know, because Brian Wilson possibly injured himself last night. And then, Bumgarner came out to pitch the ninth inning, with the Giants ahead 3-0 and Bumgarner going not only for his first win this season, but for his first complete-game shutout.

Bumgarner got the first two hitters in the bottom of the ninth, but then Rod Barrajas hit a Texas-leaguer into right field, and Jerry Sands drove him in with a deep double. So with two out and one on, Bochy brought in Brian Wilson for the one-out save. Easy stuff, right?

Wilson walked Jay Gibbons (who?) on five pitches. He then walked James Loney on five pitches. The bases are now loaded and Wilson has only thrown two strikes. Luckily, on the fifth pitch of Jamey Carroll's at-bat, he hit a liner that Nate Schierholtz had to transcend space and time and merge with the Speed Force in order to catch and end the game. No big D.

It was nerve-wracking and insane and it never needed to be. The Giants had seven hits, four walks, and 2 HBP and only scored three runs. They were 3-for-13 with RISP and left 10 on base. Aubrey Huff had another 0-fer and continues to look completely lost and bat third. I think it's time to revisit Operation: Bat Mike Fontenot Third.

Still, the Giants complete the two-game sweep of the Dodgers, remain in first place, and finish the road trip 3-3. Could/should have been much, MUCH worse. Hopefully they don't get completely annihilated by the A's this weekend (spoiler: they will). The two most frustrating wins of the year.