In San Francisco, Margo Adams got off to a quick start against Royale thanks to a three-run first inning jack by Carlos Pena off Brandon Webb. The lead swelled to 4-0 after two, but Margo starter Jaime Shields regressed toward the mean in the middle frames, giving up home runs to Derek Lee in the fifth and sixth innings as part of a five-run shelling that gave Royale a 5-4 lead. Webb pitched five+ scoreless frames after his rough start, while Billy Wagner and Jose Valverde shut down Margo’s offense in the endgame to secure the 6-4 win.
Royale drew first blood in the second game as Corey Hart to gopherific Johan Santana deep, but the 3-0 lead also didn’t last long. Five Margo singles in the third off Royale starter Ted Lilly knotted the score, while a run scoring double by Carlos Pena and Jorge Posada’s two-run round-tripper made it 6-3 Margo after four. Jayson Werth brought Royale back within a run with his two-run shot in the sixth, but Posada’s rbi single in the bottom of the inning gave margo a two-run cushion that was never threatened as Rafael Betancourt and Jonathan Papelbon combined for three innings of no-hit relief the rest of the way.
This set up a suitably wild rubber game. A solo shot by Royale slugger Barry Bonds in the second of Margo sumo wrestler C.C. Sabathia was answered by Grady Sizemore’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning. Royale struck again in the fourth as Hart lashed a triple into the gap and scored on Werth’s sac fly. The cheese lovers’ lead was stretched to 5-1 in the sixth on an rbi single by Werth and a two-run double by Bonds. But Margo fought back with three runs in the bottom of the inning on Posada’s two-run homer and a triple by Carl Crawford, who scored on Placido Polanco’s single.
Billy Wagner got two quick outs in the ninth, and looked set to preserve a 5-4 Royale win, but was pulled after giving up a seeing-eye single to Kevin Youkilis. Bob Howry came in but didn’t stay long after uncorking a wild picth and then walking Carlos Pena. Valverde came in and gave up a game-tying double down the third-base line to Nick Markakis, but Troy Tulowitzki’s relay cut down Pena at the dish as he tried to end the contest.
Things fell apart on Margo setup man Francisco Rodriguez in the 11th, as Chase’s Utley one-out double put runners on second and third, leading to an intentional walk of Chipper Jones to set up a forceout at the plate or else an inning-ending double play. Those hopes went awry, however, as Daryle Ward, pinch-hitting for Andruw Jones with the bases loaded, grounded a single scoring Bonds and Utley. Rafael Perez was brought in to face lefty-hitting Royale backstop Brian McCann, who didn’t let matchups bother him as he deposited Perez’s offering over the right-field bricks for a 10-5 lead, putting an exclamation point on a great series.
