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Aviles, Royals rally past Giants

Jun 23, 2008 - 12:29 AM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Joey Gathright's tie-breaking single capped the Kansas City Royals' 11-10 come-from-behind victory over the San Francisco Giants in the rubber match of their interleague series Sunday.

Six straight Royals hitters reached against a pair of Giants relievers in the sixth inning before rookie Mike Aviles delivered a two-out, two-run double to tie the score at 10-10 as Kansas City overcame a seven-run deficit, the second-largest in team history.

Alberto Callaspo reached on Giants shortstop Emmanuel Burriss' one-out error the next inning, and David DeJesus walked before Gathright drove the first pitch from Alex Hinshaw (1-1) into left field to bring in Callaspo from second base with the go-ahead run.

"We wanted to just keep battling until something pays off," Gathright said. "We put good at-bats together. We knew we could come back. Eventually good things will happen when you start putting timely at-bats together. You could see we were excited in the dugout.

"Sometimes you will give up when you're down like that but we felt like everybody was still battling, trying to put stuff together. You do that and things will work out."

DeJesus reached safely four times on two hits and two walks, scoring twice and driving in two while Aviles added three RBI for the Royals, who have won seven of their last eight.

"We didn't fold over," Aviles said. "We were down 6-0 and 10-3 and we just kept battling back, getting a run here, a run there, and the next thing you know we're up 11-10 and everything is in our favor. It's always a big thing when we keep chipping away and battling back.

"If you're in this game and you don't feel like you can win, you're probably not in the right business. We showed a lot of heart today."

Ron Mahay (3-0), the Royals' fourth pitcher of the day, provided two innings of scoreless relief before Joakim Soria closed out the Giants in the ninth for his 20th save in 21 chances.

"They shut us down the last four innings," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "And we had trouble shutting them down. We're off tomorrow and it comes at a good time. This was an ugly game, for both sides, really."

San Francisco collected 20 baserunners in the first five innings in matching their second-largest scoring output of the season. It was the fourth time in their last 24 games that the Giants had reached double figures in runs.

Fred Lewis, Ray Durham and Randy Winn combined for six hits and five walks in their first four plate appearances, scoring seven runs and driving in four.

"You can never stop scoring runs," Winn said. "When you have the lead you have to continue to play baseball. Their relief pitchers came in and did a good job of shutting us down. I wouldn't say this was the most disappointing (loss). All losses are disappointing. We were ahead and weren't able to hold the lead, so that's why this one hurts."

San Francisco scored four in the fifth - highlighted by John Bowker's third hit of the game, a bases-clearing double - to take a 10-3 lead. They also held a 6-0 advantage in the third.

Lewis reached safely five times while extending his career-best hitting streak to 12 games with a second-inning RBI double, then scored on Winn's single to drive Royals starter Kyle Davies from the game. The 24-year-old righthander faced just 12 batters over 1 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout.

"Coming out of the bullpen I felt great," said Davies, who had allowed just one run in each of his previous four starts. "I made some pretty quality pitches to Lewis and he laid off of them. I don't know how he laid off of them, but we didn't get the call. It's tough when you walk the first batter of the game because everybody goes back on their heels.

"I don't think I pitched that badly. I just think I need to put guys away when I get them to two strikes."

The Giants squandered their largest lead since dropping a 17-13 game at Colorado on June 28, 2000 - which was also a seven-run advantage. The contest took three hours, 59 minutes, which was the longest nine-inning game of the year for both clubs.

"There were a lot of little things that hurt us," Bochy said. "Them scoring from second on a wild pitch, that's a big run. The passed ball definitely hurt, too. There are so many things when you lose a game like that. It goes to show that you have to play hard for nine innings, and they did."

San Francisco starter Tim Lincecum held Kansas City without a hit before giving up DeJesus' RBI double in the third. The 24-year-old righthander threw five innings, allowing a season-high five runs on six hits and two walks while striking out eight.

"We had a chance to step on their throat when they were down and we didn't do it," Lincecum said. "I didn't help with that and I'm pretty disappointed in myself. It was a lack of focus on my part."