Ace Duel II

Colorado Rockies vs San Francisco Giants
In another duel between Tim Lincecum and Ubaldo Jimenez, one needed to end their struggles. Lincecum had lost 5 games in a row, while Ubaldo had went weeks without a win. This was huge for the pennant race.

Both pitchers allowed nothing until Carlos Gonzalez homered in the fourth inning to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead. Ubaldo had a no-hitter going until Jose Gullien singled to lead off the 5th inning. Buster Posey then walked, and after a strikeout Mike Fontenot tied the game with an RBI single.

Ubaldo allowed some base runners, and the Giants were in a good situation in the seventh. But Pablo Sandoval struck out, and Miguel Olivo caught Buster Posey stealing second. The inning was over.

On the other hand, it looked like Lincecum was finally back. Only 3 batters got hits off of him, and he only walked one batter. He finished the eighth, and exited the game allowing only 5 hits and 1 run, and striking out 9 batters. His last pitch was a strikeout to get out of a jam in the eighth.

In the bottom if the eighth, Darren Ford, sent up from Double-A Richmond, got his first taste of MLB baseball. Mike Fontenot walked, and Ford pinch-ran. He advanced to second on Lincecum's sac bunt.

All of the sudden, Ubaldo threw a wild pitch. Ford ran to third, and Miguel Olivo threw. It went over Melvin Mora's head. Ford scored!

Brian Wilson came in for the Giants, and he pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 38th save of the year. Freddy Sanchez made a spectacular over-the shoulder catch to end the game, and give Lincecum the win, and cut the NL West deficit to 3 games against the Padres, losers of seven straight.

College football games today
Southern Miss at South Carolina, 4:30 PM PT, ESPN
Pittsburgh at Utah, 5:30 PM PT, Versus
USC at Hawaii, 8:00 PM PT, ESPN

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