Major League Baseball

GOOD AND LUCKY;Brave's ugly errors aid Giants' gritty performance

Published Oct. 12, 2010 10:10 a.m. ET

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Baseball will be played again this October on the shores of McCovey Cove. For that, thank Jonathan Sanchez - man, was he good again - and Mike Fontenot, who delivered a big hit; and Aubrey Huff, with the single of his life; and Travis Ishikawa, drawing a huge walk; and Brian Wilson, just doing what he does.

As the faithful celebrate the Giants' 3-2 win in Game 3 of their Division Series on Sunday, they would be remiss if they did not also salute Braves second baseman Brooks Conrad, whose three-error game was a major story in the outcome.

The biggest came with two outs in the ninth. Aubrey Huff had tied the game 2-2 with a single when Buster Posey hit a piece-of-cake grounder to Conrad. When it went over his glove and into center field, Freddy Sanchez scored the go-ahead run.

Were the Giants lucky to win? It is hard to argue otherwise, though they engineered a terrific rally before the error to overcome a severe body blow: pinch-hitter Eric Hinske's two-run homer against Sergio Romo in the eighth inning, which turned a 1-0 Giants lead upside down.

They say luck is the residue of design. Wilson said so too after overcoming his blown save in Game 2 to finish this victory, though in Wilson-ese.

"Skill meets opportunity," he said. "When you come up in those situations, you're going to be victorious. Lucky or not, the box score says 'W.' It doesn't matter how we achieved it. We're up 2-1 in the series. That's it."

And that is huge.

Instead of Tim Lincecum pitching on three days' rest tonight to save the Giants' season, a fresh Madison Bumgarner will start, with Lincecum again being the fail-safe. If necessary, he would pitch Game 5 on extra rest at AT&T Park on Wednesday.

"To come back like that after a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, I mean, that can take the wind out of your sails," manager Bruce Bochy said. "These guys came right back and found a way to get it done. That is a great win."

Poetic justice would have gotten Jonathan Sanchez the win after he pitched another autumn masterpiece.

Sanchez lost a no-hitter on a sixth-inning single by pitcher Tim Hudson. Sanchez also struck out 11 to become the second left-hander in franchise history to have at least 10 in a postseason game. The other was Carl Hubbell in the 1933 World Series.

The only other hit against Sanchez was a leadoff single in the eighth by Alex Gonzalez. The woebegone Conrad was asked to bunt but popped it up. The Braves sent Troy Glaus to bat for Game 2 hero Rick Ankiel. Bochy countered with Romo. Braves manager Bobby Cox parried with Hinske.

Six pitches later, all of Sanchez's good work was undone. Hinske lined a 2-2 pitch for a two-run homer over the right-field wall near the foul pole to send 53,284 fans into a frenzy, foam tomahawks and all.

Pitching coach Dave Righetti ran to the mound to counsel Romo, who also had allowed two singles that started Atlanta's three-run tying rally in the eighth inning in Game 2. Righetti told him the next two outs were critical, and Romo got them. He retired pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera on a flyball and Omar Infante on a foul pop.

Then the offense went to work against a committee of relievers taking the place of injured closer Billy Wagner.

Sunday's date was 10-10-10, and No. 10 Ishikawa drew a one-out walk against Craig Kimbrel.

"Everybody kept telling me it was going to be a big day for me," Ishikawa said with a laugh.

Andres Torres looked at strike three for the second out. When Freddy Sanchez fell behind 0-2, the Giants were down to their last strike. Sanchez kept the game alive with a single to center.

"He's tough. He's got some great stuff," Sanchez said of Kimbrel. "It was just a battle. Ishikawa, for a guy who hasn't gotten many at-bats and not seeing a lot of pitches, had a great at-bat there. He got on base and set the tone."

Cox called for the lefty Mike Dunn to face the badly slumping Huff. Slumping no more, he lined a single to right to tie the game.

Cox summoned his third would-be closer, Peter Moylan. The sidewinder got Posey to ground to Conrad, and what should have been the third out became the Giants' go-ahead play.

"You don't ever wish that upon somebody," Posey said, a rare voice of compassion for Conrad in the winning clubhouse.

Conrad also dropped Cody Ross' routine pop to short right field in the second inning to allow the Giants' first run to score after Fontenot tripled off Jason Heyward's glove as the rookie right fielder slammed the back of his head into the wall.

Posey said there was no panic in the dugout in the ninth. Romo said his teammates were "ready to rock. They knew we had a chance."

Now, the Giants have a chance to finish the Braves tonight. It will be interesting to see who Atlanta's second baseman is.

The statistics of the Giants' three starting pitchers in this series:

Sergio Romo's statistics in the regular season, in September and October to finish the regular season, and in the NLDS:

Note: In the regular season, Romo allowed one home run and six earned runs after June 27.

Notable multiple-error postseason performances:

2B Brooks Conrad, Braves, 2010 NLDS: Committed three errors in Game 3 on Sunday, one of which allowed the deciding run. Committed one error in Game 1. His series total of four is a Division Series record.

SS Rafael Furcal, Dodgers, 2008 NLCS: Made three errors in one inning in Game 5 against Philadelphia, two of them on one play involving Pat Burrell. Furcal first botched Burrell's grounder, then threw wildly to home. The Phillies won the NLCS in five games.

2B Mike Andrews, A's, 1973 World Series: Committed two errors in the 12th inning of Game 2, helping the Mets to a victory. Oakland owner Charlie Finley essentially fired Andrews after the game, but his teammates vowed to walk out in protest and Commissioner Bowie Kuhn reinstated Andrews. The A's won the Series 4 games to 3.

OF Willie Davis, Dodgers, 1966 World Series: Committed three errors on two consecutive plays in the fifth inning of Game 2, dropping two flyballs and overthrowing third base. The Orioles swept the Series.

Giants 3, Braves 2

Giants lead series 2-1

Rays 5, Rangers 2

Series tied 2-2

Phillies 2, Reds 0

Phillies win series 3-0

Giants at Braves, 4:37 p.m.

Aubrey Huff: One swing turns around his series. Giants beat: Starters continue to excel; Bochy's big decisions. B6

Giants lead

series 2-1

Game 1: Giants 1, Braves 0

Game 2: Braves 5, Giants 4 11

Game 3: Giants 3, Braves 2

Game 4: at Atlanta, Madison Bumgarner 7-6, 3.00 vs. Derek Lowe 16-12, 4.00, 4:37 p.m. today

Game 5*: at AT&T Park,

5:07 p.m. Wednesday

All games on TBS and 680 *if necessary

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