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Buster Posey's homer caps Giants sweep of Diamondbacks
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By Jorge L. Ortiz
September 30, 2010
San Francisco, CA — With teammate Aubrey Huff's arm draped around him in a joyous dugout, Buster Posey could hear the public address system at AT&T Park blare out a tune the Giants only play on selected occasions.
The theme from "Ghostbusters'' resonated throughout the ballpark – with fans belting out "Go Buster'' at the appropriate time – moments after the rookie catcher clobbered a two-run homer in the sixth inning that gave the Giants some breathing room in a 4-1 victory that completed a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks.
Rather than taking the usual nail-biter approach to winning that prompted team broadcaster Duane Kuiper to coin the phrase "Giants baseball – torture,'' the team and its fans could relax a bit.
Regardless of what happens later today in the Padres-Cubs game, the Giants just need to win one more game this season to secure their first NL West championship since 2003.
The second-place Padres, currently 2? games back, come into town for a three-game set Friday night.
Rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner and three relievers combined to hold the Diamondbacks to two runs or fewer for the third time in the series, and were supported by three home runs.
Bumgarner, who has been brilliant on the road (6-3, 1.91 ERA) but still had not won at home, was lifted for a pinch-hitter with the game tied 1-1 in the fifth, apparently headed for a no-decision after allowing nine base-runners in five eventful innings.
But leadoff man Andres Torres parked a Barry Enright pitch into the right-field seats with two outs, putting San Francisco ahead 2-1 and making Bumgarner (7-6) eligible for the victory.
Posey's blast and four innings of sterling relief by the bullpen made the win stand.
The Giants have twice tinkered with their rotation this week, moving Tim Lincecum up a day so he could start Wednesday – when he beat the Diamondbacks 3-1 while striking out 11 – and flip-flopping Barry Zito with Matt Cain, who will now start tomorrow night.
Asked about the possibility he might be lining up his playoff rotation with Lincecum and Cain as his 1-2 combo, Giants manager Bruce Bochy stuck to convention – or is it superstition? – and refused to address the topic.
"I'm not even talking about that,'' Bochy said. "We're in the regular season now and these are the games we're focusing on.''
• MLB News Archive Index:
2010, 2009
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