The Giants team that became so known for its torturous outcomes on the way to an unthinkable World Series title last fall pulled off another dramatic victory in its home opener -- and how fitting that was. San Francisco raised the flag and St. Louis dropped the ball. Aaron Rowand hit a game-winning single off the left-field wall with the bases loaded in the 12th inning and the Giants celebrated raising the World Series flag with a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals on Friday. "It's obvious we're not retiring torture," manager Bruce Bochy said with a grin. "This was a very emotional day, all day. And the game was an emotional roller coaster. We were looking at a tough loss there and these guys battled back. It was quite a ballgame for our home opener." First baseman Albert Pujols dropped what would have been an inning-ending grounder by Andres Torres with two outs in the 12th. That after the Cardinals should have turned a double play to get out of the inning but Nate Schierholtz beat the relay throw. Torres reached on the error by Pujols and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Brian Tallet (0-1), the sixth Cardinals pitcher, intentionally walked Freddy Sanchez to load the bases. Rowand then drove a pitch to deep left-center, capping a long, festive home opener that lasted 4 hours, 24 minutes. Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310408126
Rowand looking fuggin great this season...I'm VERY suspect though. Seems like such a Rowand thing to get crazy hot, encourage the team to drop Schierholtz, steal DeRosa/Burrell/etc.'s ABs then go back in the tank while Bochy keeps trotting him out there every day hoping the hot streak comes back.
