Holm's first career homer propels Giants past Phillies

Baseball Betting Lines

05/11/2008 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Holm's first major league home run in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in the winning run, as the San Francisco Giants edged the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, in the rubber match at AT&T Park.

Jonathan Sanchez gave up three runs on four hits with five walks in 4 1/3 innings. Jack Taschner (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the win.

Bengie Molina doubled and scored two runs for the Giants, who have won two straight on the heels of a season-high five-game skid. John Bowker went 2- for-3 and knocked in a run.

Adam Eaton gave up two runs on five hits with five walks and four strikeouts over five-plus innings. J.C. Romero (3-1) allowed two runs in the seventh to absorb the loss.

Ryan Howard had an RBI triple for the Phillies, who have dropped three of their last four games. Philadelphia was limited to only six hits in the loss.

Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, Randy Winn lined a two-out single off Romero to keep the inning alive. Holm then hammered the first pitch he saw from Romero over the wall in left field.

Brian Wilson worked around a one-out single by Greg Dobbs in the ninth to notch his 11th save of the season.

The Giants jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Molina led off with a single, advanced to second on a walk to Aaron Rowand and crossed the plate when Bowker hit a bloop single over the outstretched left arm of shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

A two-out double by Pedro Feliz in the top of the fourth put runners on second and third and the Giants decided to intentionally walk Carlos Ruiz with Eaton due up next. The move proved costly as Eaton drew a walk to bring in Pat Burrell, who was given a free pass earlier in the frame.

San Francisco loaded the bases in the home half and reclaimed the lead when Jose Castillo grounded into a 4-3 double play.

The Phillies answered with two runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. Chase Utley drew a one-out walk and Howard followed with a stand-up triple that chased Sanchez from the game. Billy Sadler took over on the mound and Burrell greeted him with a sacrifice fly to put the visitors ahead.

The Giants squandered a glorious opportunity with the bases loaded in the sixth. Eaton's first pitch of the inning nailed Molina and Emmanuel Burriss entered as a pinch runner. Rowand then sliced a double over the head of Jayson Werth in right. Durbin relieved the maddeningly inconsistent Eaton and hit Bowker to load the bases.

Castillo lined a scorcher to Howard, who turned the unassisted double play. Following an intentional walk to Omar Vizquel, Durbin struck out pinch- hitter Ray Durham to end the threat.

Game Notes

Howard recorded his first triple since June 20, 2006...The two clubs split the season series, 3-3...San Francisco improved to 9-9 in games decided by one run...The Giants left nine men on base, while the Phillies stranded seven...Attendance was 35,999.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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