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Lowry outpitches Burnett as Giants beat Blue Jays

Jun 13, 2007 - 6:57 AM SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Noah Lowry accomplished something no other San Francisco Giants pitcher had managed to do since May 23. He helped his team to back-to-back victories.

Lowry tossed six effective frames to lead the Giants to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.

Lowry collected his first win since defeating the Astros on May 21 by allowing just two runs and four hits. The 26-year-old lefthander struck out five and walked four, as San Francisco clinched its first series win since sweeping Houston on May 21-23.

"We made pitches when we needed to make pitches and obviously Bengie (Molina) knowing these guys, he called a great game back there, kept these guys off-balance," Lowry said.

"He (Lowry) did a nice job," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's been throwing the ball well. Bengie's been doing a great job, the pen really stepped up tonight. Tight ballgame. They did well."

Jack Taschner and Kevin Correia pitched a scoreless inning apiece and Brad Hennessey needed a great catch by left fielder Randy Winn in the ninth to pick up his third save of the season and first since Armando Benitez was traded to Florida.

Winn, who did not start due to bruised ribs, came in to run for Barry Bonds in the seventh and tracked Aaron Hill's long fly ball all the way to the wall in left-center where he leaped and made a tremendous catch to preserve the 3-2 lead.

"When it was first hit, I didn't think it was going to be a home run but we were playing no doubles (defense) so I had a chance to get back to the wall early and as it kept carrying I realized I was going to have to jump and make a play," Winn said.

"Whatever the wind was doing, I knew I got it a little too high," Hill said. "He made a great play. I guess it's just dumb hitting to go to that part of the park."

Blue Jays starter A.J Burnett (5-6) did not make it out of the fifth after straining his right shoulder while striking out Ryan Klesko. Burnett allowed three runs - two earned - and six hits while striking out four in 4 2/3 innings.

Burnett will be re-evaluated Wednesday but said he is not overly concerned.

"I'm not worried about it," Burnett said. "We'll worry about it tomorrow."

"I don't think it's that big of a deal," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "They did all the tests and checked out all right."

Jason Frasor relieved Burnett with Bonds on first in the fifth and struck out Ray Durham to end the threat.

Bonds went 2-for-2 with a double and a pair of intentional walks for San Francisco.

Klesko celebrated his 36th birthday in style with two hits, including a double and a pair of RBI. Klesko got the Giants on the board in the first on an RBI groundout.

"Those ones we've got to have, those ones that have been tough on us, those tight ballgames in the last month so it's good to win the close ones and it's a prime example of getting guys over and getting guys in and playing the way we should play here," Klesko said. "We got the runs in when we needed to get them in, the bullpen pitched great, Noah pitched great, too. We played good defense and it was a well-played ballgame."

Alex Rios staked Toronto to a 2-1 lead in the third, teeing off on a 1-1 offering from Lowry for his 15th home run of the season.

"It came down to one pitch, I cut a changeup instead of getting it down and away," Lowry said. "I paid for it but was able to shut them down there."

Dave Roberts led off the third with a double, followed by an RBI single from Klesko. Bonds then slammed a double off the facade in right field. After Durham's RBI groundout gave the Giants a 3-2 lead, Rios made an outstanding play on a sharp liner to shallow right-center by Molina to end the inning.

San Francisco threatened again in the seventh and had runners at the corners with two outs and Molina at the plate. The Giants' catcher was robbed again by Rios on a shoestring catch in right-center to squash the threat.

"I just got a good jump on them," Rios said. "I guess I never took my eyes off the ball. I made a couple good catches out there."

Making his first career start for the Giants, Nate Schierholtz singled in his first major league at-bat in the first.