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Giants win on wild pitch in the ninth

Aug 22, 2008 - 12:58 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- The Florida Marlins are at the point of the season where every win counts if they want to have a chance at the playoffs. Unfortunately for them, they came up short against the lowly San Francisco Giants.

A wild pitch by closer Kevin Gregg in the bottom of the ninth inning allowed Emmanuel Burriss to score from third base as the Giants edged the Marlins, 4-3, on Thursday.

"Those guys are trying their best to push us under the rug," Burriss said. "When we have a series against a team that's a couple games out of a pennant race, it shows everybody that we're a good-enough team to beat those teams."

"This is one of the better teams in the National League. They've got hitters up and down that lineup, and they've got pitching, too," Giants reliever Tyler Walker said. "For us to take two out of three and split the season series with them, it's an accomplishment. Hopefully, we can carry on some momentum."

Gregg (6-6) walked Burriss with one out, stole second and went to third on Randy Winn's flyout. Pinch hitter Bengie Molina was walked intentionally and, with Fred Lewis at the plate, Gregg uncorked a wild pitch past catcher John Baker, allowing Burriss to jog home with the winning run.

"It was a slider. I threw it in the dirt and it bounced far enough away to let (Burriss) score," Gregg said. "The problem with that inning was the walk. You give them a free ride and he gets the opportunity to use that speed to his advantage. It was a slider below the zone. I wanted to see how aggressive (Lewis) was going to be and it bounced away."

The Marlins blew a golden opportunity to snap a 3-3 tie in the eighth. They loaded the bases with two outs, but Walker struck out Cody Ross with a hard breaking slider to end the threat.

"Its very frustrating. We've got to take advantage of playing teams like this," Ross said. "They seem like they're trying to rebuild and give young guys chances to play and we're fighting for a playoff spot, and we've got to try to take advantage, and we didn't do it.

"We didn't get the big hits when we needed it. I can take the blame for today. I should've had a better at-bat. We've got to put it behind us and concentrate on the (next series)."

Brian Wilson (2-2) tossed a scoreless top of the ninth to notch the victory for the second straight game.

"Two tough losses these last two ballgames and we've got to shake it off and go to Arizona and play that tough ballclub," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We just couldn't break it open, and when that happens, you put pressure on your defense, put pressure on your pitching, and bad things can happen.

"I'm not pointing the finger at anybody. I think we lose and we win as a team, and right now, we're just not getting it done."

After scoring two runs in the fourth to pull even at 2-2, the Giants took a one-run advantage an inning later on Aaron Rowand's RBI single. However, Luis Gonzalez lifted a sacrifice fly in the seventh to forge a 3-3 tie.

The Marlins took an early lead in the second, when Dan Uggla crushed a hanging slider from Matt Palmer for his 27th home run of the season, tying him with Hanley Ramirez for the team lead. Josh Willingham smacked an RBI double in the fourth for a 2-0 bulge.

The Giants improved to 4-1 in their last five home series but still are just 26-37 at AT&T Park - the second-worst home record in the National League.