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SAN FRANCISCO(AP) So long the hard-luck pitcher with little run support,
Matt Cain
suddenly doesn't need much.
He's been that dominant.
Cain pitched nine scoreless innings but settled for a no-decision. He didn't mind considering San Francisco's result.
Randy Winn
lined an RBI single down the first-base line with two outs in the 10th inning and the Giants beat the
Pittsburgh Pirates
1-0 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep on the heels of a 3-7 road trip.
''It was huge for us and we definitely needed it,'' Cain said.
After Cain's impressive outing,
Brian Wilson
(3-4) worked the 10th for the victory. This marked the Giants' first sweep of the Pirates in their waterfront ballpark since
July 31-Aug. 2, 2001.
San Francisco scored against
Matt Capps
(2-6), and
Eugenio Velez
got it started with a leadoff single. He was sacrificed to second and scored on Winn's lone hit in five at-bats and his first
walkoff hit since Aug. 6, 2007.
The Pirates lost their fifth straight to finish a 1-7 road trip.
''Matt was awesome today,'' San Francisco skipper
Bruce Bochy
said. ''He went up there and threw another gem. We won the game because of him even though he didn't get the win.''
After the game, San Francisco acquired Pittsburgh All-Star second baseman
Freddy Sanchez
for minor league pitcher Tim Alderson. The Giants' medical staff twice examined Sanchez to make sure his tender left knee
was fine. Sanchez was a late scratch Monday night and didn't play at all this series, giving San Francisco's medical staff
ample time to evaluate him. He also sat out Friday night's game at Arizona.
The Pirates already traded shortstop
Jack Wilson
and pitcher
Ian Snell
to the
Seattle Mariners
earlier Wednesday for shortstop
Ronny Cedeno
, Triple-A catcher
Jeff Clement
and three minor league pitchers.
Cain, named an NL All-Star but unable to participate because of an arm injury, struck out four and walked two in an impressive
111-pitch outing. He missed a chance at his 13th win, which would match his career high also done during his standout rookie
season in 2006. He hasn't lost in six starts since a June 26 defeat at Milwaukee.
''I don't know if anything's different,'' he said. ''I'm just trying to take that little step of improvement of being more
focused, and I think that's what has helped me a ton.''
After going 0 for 4 in his Giants debut Tuesday night, first baseman
Ryan Garko
had his first hit for his new club with a second-inning single. Garko came to San Francisco from Cleveland in a trade Monday.
Pirates left-hander
Zach Duke
hung tough with Cain, working out of some tough jams to keep the game scoreless. The Giants squandered scoring chances in
the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings.
But Duke failed to pick up his team-leading 10th win, which would match his career high from 2006.
''It's a tough one.
Matt Cain
was on top of his game again,'' Duke said. ''I had to be (equally sharp) to match up with him to give us a chance, so thankfully
it was as good of a game as it was.''
Pirates manager
John Russell
twice came out to argue with second-base umpire Mike DiMuro, the first on
Juan Uribe
's stolen base in the fifth and again in the top of the seventh when
Garrett Jones
was caught stealing. Russell questioned then whether second baseman Uribe got the tag down in time.
NOTES: Pirates reliever
John Grabow
made his 385th appearance since 2004, matching
Alan Embree
for most in the majors by a lefty during that span. ... San Francisco captured the season series (4-2) for the first time
since 2005. ... Giants CF
Aaron Rowand
plans to test his torn forearm tendon by playing light catch Thursday. He was hit by a pitch in the arm at Atlanta on July
20 and is limited to pinch-hit duties. ... Cain is one of seven pitchers in San Francisco history to win 12 of their first
14 decisions, joining Hall of Famers
Gaylord Perry
and
Juan Marichal
, and
Rick Reuschel
,
John Burkett
,
Shawn Estes
and
Jason Schmidt
. ... Pittsburgh returns home to kick off a 10-game homestand Friday against Washington.
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