Why They Lost
When it all went to hell in the 2nd inning for the Roy. He started off strong with a 12-pitch first inning. Renteria and Sandoval hit the ball hard, but for silly little flyouts. Then in the 2nd - it imploded. The first four Giants reached base, and Roy got a first-pitch strike on three of them. Huff took a 1-2 pitch to right, DeRosa worked a six-pitch walk, Molina took an 0-2 pitch deep to left. Bowker took a 2-0 pitch to deep left, and Uribe got a sac fly to score the 3rd run.
Meanwhile, Tim Lincecum was in mid-season, Cy Young form. More on that later.
Astros Pitching
| Name | IP | H/ER | K:BB | Pit-Str | GB/FB |
| Oswalt | 6 | 7/3 | 3:2 | 86-53 (61.6%) | 10/5 |
| Sampson | 1 | 2/1 | 1:0 | 16-13 (81.3%) | 2/0 |
| Byrdak | 1 | 1/1 | 0:0 | 12-10 (83.3%) | 2/1 |
| Gervacio | 1 | 0/0 | 2:0 | 11-9 (81.8%) | 1/0 |
I'm not sure why Byrdak, having gotten Aubrey Huff, was left in to face Mark DeRosa - who hit LHP to the tune of .278/.341/.587 last season. But he was, and DeRosa knocked one over the right-field wall to make it a 5-0 lead. But Gervacio was weird, and awesome.
Astros hitting
It looked like Lincecum cruised, and for the most part he did. The Astros just didn't get the hit they needed. In the 6th inning, Mills lifted Oswalt after 86 pitches to put in Cory Sullivan and spark some offense. And Sullivan struck out swinging on five pitches. After Bourn and Matsui singled, Pence moved them over and Lee popped up a 2-0 pitch to third.
All in all, it was what you'd expect from Lincecum. He allowed four hits, all singles - the Astros didn't get their first extra-base hit until Blum got a double in the 9th - struck out seven and didn't walk anybody (the Astros didn't draw a walk all night). Lincecum only got to a 3-ball count four times, and exited after 98 pitches and seven innings.
Pitch Count Punk: Carlos Lee - 9 pitches in four PAs (2x4)
Pitch Count Hero: Geoff Blum - 20 pitches in four PAs (1x4)
Pence's ABs:
1) Bottom 1st, 2 out, 0 on, 0-0. Looking, looking, foul, ball, swinging
2) Bottom 4th, 1 out, 0 on, SF 3-0. Looking, ball, foul, foul, swinging
3) Bottom 6th, 1 out, 2 on, SF 3-0. Groundout to third
4) Bottom 8th, 2 out, 2 on, SF 5-0. Looking, Looking, Foul, Foul out
14 pitches, 12 strikes, 1 ball, and one groundout. Awful.
Man of the Match: I'm giving it to Tommy Manzella, never looked overmatched at the plate and had a sweet glove.
Goat of the Game: Hunter Pence.
