A bonk and a bunt: Weird rally gives Giants 4-0 lead
ST. LOUIS – Is this how the NLCS turned completely around?
------
Two outs. Bases loaded. One-run game.
This was precisely the kind of situation in which the San Francisco Giants hitters had been failing, and that's why they were trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven NLCS.
------
Two on. One out. A weak grounder to the pitcher, possibly an inning-ending double play, certainly the second out.
This was precisely the kind of play the St. Louis Cardinals had been gobbling up, which is why they were one victory away from a chance to defend their 2011 World Series title.
------
Except that roles were reversed in a stunning, wacky top of the fourth inning Friday night and set the wheels in motion for the Giants to win Game 5 and get back to AT&T Park with a hope to still win this series.
The inning began with Marco Scutaro and Pablo Sandoval getting back-to-back singles off Cardinals starter Lance Lynn, who had sailed through three no-hit innings.
Then, things began to happen that seemed to define the Giants offense in this series. Catcher Buster Posey struck out for the second time in the game, the fifth time in the series, dropping him to 2 for 16 in the series.
And Hunter Pence, another Giant bust in the series, bounced a harmless chopper to the right of the mound. Lynn fielded it and wheeled to get to the force out at second. Only, his throw was low and hit the bag, Scutaro scoring.
The Cardinal sin, well, error was a little shocking, as St. Louis had been pretty flawless in its execution in the series. But it didn't seem too damaging when Brandon Belt popped up for the second out.
Lynn then walked Gregor Blanco to load the bases and bring up shortstop Brandon Crawford in exactly the kind of spot the Giants hitters have been mucking up.
Except, this time, Crawford singled sharply up the middle.
Yes, Giants fans, if you've forgotten, this is called A BIG HIT.
Two runs scored to make it 3-0, which figured to be all the Giants would get with pitcher Barry Zito coming up.
Except that Zito surprised the Cardinals by dropping a beautiful bunt up the third-base line that third baseman David Freese fielded but threw wide to first. It appeared Zito would have beaten even a good throw.
The bunt scored the fourth run of the inning and sent Lynn to the showers.
All four runs were unearned.
But all four runs counted, and this very well could have been the moment the Giants, who came back from an 0-2 deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds in the Division Series, turned this series around.