Giants 4, Reds 3
SAN FRANCISCO -- With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Angel Pagan singled in the winning run as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 on Sunday afternoon.
Buster Posey had three hits, two RBI and the winning run on the day he was voted by the fans to start in the upcoming All-Star Game.
The Giants' earned a split of their four game series against Cincinnati.
Ryan Vogelsong pitched seven innings, allowing only three hits, two runs and one walk. He added five strikeouts but unfortunately would get a no-decision.
High drama in the ninth inning
Javier Lopez gave up a leadoff single to Jay Bruce in the top of the ninth. After a pitching change to bring in Santiago Casilla, the Giants closer gave up singles to Ryan Ludwick and Todd Frazier to load the bases with no outs. Miguel Cairo singled to left to bring in the tying run.
But in the bottom of the ninth, Posey doubled just inside the right-field line with two outs and Pablo Sandoval was intentionally walked, putting runners on first and second. Pagan battled Jose Arrendondo and hit a high fly ball deep toward the 365-foot mark in right center. Bruce drifted back and at the last moment the ball went over his glove for the winning hit.
Bronson Arroyo worked six innings, giving up seven hits and two runs. Frazier hit a two-run homer for the Reds.
Despite the loss, the Reds remained one game ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central.
Ryan Theriot walked to lead off the seventh for the Giants, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Melky Cabrera and scored on Posey's single to center off reliever Logan Ondrusek.
The Giants opened the scoring with a third-inning RBI single by Posey. In the fifth, Cabrera singled in Theriot. Posey was hit by a pitch from Arroyo on the left arm near the shoulder.
Brandon Belt led off the Giants' sixth with a single to center. During Vogelsong's at-bat, he was nearly hit by a pitch on a sacrifice-bunt attempt. On a second pitch that Vogelsong fouled off near his chin, he was visibly upset and slammed the bat into the ground, causing both benches to empty. After a brief exchange between the two teams in front of home plate, order was restored and both sides were warned not to retaliate.
A little controversy in the top of the fourth inning
With two outs, it appeared that Vogelsong hit Brandon Phillips with a pitch and was awarded first base. Replays clearly showed home plate umpire Dan Iassogna missed the call as the ball hit the bat and not the hands. That had ended Vogelsong's streak of 11 batters retired to start the game.
In the fifth, Ludwick singled to right center to break up the no-hit bid. After a nine-pitch at-bat, Frazier homered to left to put the Reds up 2-0.
NOTES: Joey Votto missed his first game of the season after leaving Saturday's game with inflammation in his left knee. Votto will start at first base for the National League in the All-Star game. He received 7.3 million votes, second only to Posey in the NL. ... Posey was the leading vote-getter for the National League and became the first Giants catcher to win a fan-elected start in the upcoming All-Star Game. ... Posey will be joined by teammates, 3B Pablo Sandoval, OF Melky Cabrera and P Matt Cain in the midsummer classic. ... First pitch was delayed by 12 minutes because of the 10-year reunion honoring the 2002 National League champion Giants team. This weekend was chosen because Reds manager Dusty Baker was the skipper of that Giants squad.
