Phils 2, Giants 1: It's tempting to say that Pedro Martinez "outdueled" Tim Lincecum tonight, but when you adjust for degree of difficulty, it was as if Lincecum were fencing in a suit of lead armor custom-made for Brad Penny while Pedro got fitted with a new space-age crypto-thermal kevlar track suit.
This one hurt much more than Cole Hamels's 2-hitter Tuesday night. I absolutely hated Edgar Renteria's at-bat in the sixth inning: Velez on second with a leadoff double, the game tied 1-1, and all the Giants needed from Renteria, a guy who could hit to right field with a squadron of army ants in his pants (believe me, not a pleasant situation), was a ground ball to the right side to get Velez to third.
First pitch, inside fastball, Renteria grounded to short. Then Panda grounded out, Velez to third, and Molina smacked one hard to center but right to Victorino. Inning over. A bit of bad luck on Molina's ball, sure, but Renteria's glaring failure made life so much harder.
If the Giants can hold the line in Milwaukee, they'll come home Monday with Freddie Sanchez probably in the lineup, though it's hard to imagine him doing any better than Juan Uribe the past two weeks. Uribe was my co-player of the week last week, and he did it again in the Philly series. It bears repeating: He might not be team MVP, but he's certainly #1 Unsung Hero.
