No reasonable explanation for Phillies' win over Giants

SAN FRANCISCO - It is the type of ending that needs to be served with a healthy dose of enzymes. Because no matter how many times you look at the box score or replay the pivotal moments or listen to the firsthand accounts of what went down, it is still impossible to digest.

For example:

Giants manager Bruce Bochy walking to the mound and taking the ball from his unhittable ace with two outs remaining . . .

Jayson Werth dropping a game-tying, three-run double onto the chalk line in rightfield . . .

The first go-ahead run scoring on a wild pitch in the top of the 10th only to be equalized in the bottom of the frame . . .

Wilson Valdez knocking the go-ahead run home in the top of the 11th, catcher Brian Schneider sprawling across the plate to make a tag in the bottom of it, Nelson Figueroa recording the save as the last-man standing . . .

Maybe the best place to begin is the end, with a clubhouse full of players hurriedly dressing for the long flight home, as if, at any moment, a stunned Giants team might walk through the door and take back a victory that seemed sure to be theirs.

"We haven't been playing the best ball," Ryan Howard said in the wake of the Phillies' wild, 7-6 victory in 11 innings yesterday, "but it's definitely a big win to go back home with."

For the better part of the afternoon, the Phillies seemed destined to limp out of California in third place in the National League East, a three-game sweep at the hands of the Giants having dropped them to 11-10.

Through eight innings, they had mustered only three hits off San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum, their only success a solo home run from Howard in the fifth. The 26-year-old righthander had struck out 11 of the 26 batters he faced, using his changeup/splitter hybrid to frustrate an offense that already was stuck in a maddening funk.

The Phillies were playing their major league-leading 15th road game of April, with four losses in their last five, and looked very much the part.

But then it happened. With one out in the ninth and the Giants leading, 4-1, Bochy walked out of the dugout. Lincecum looked quizzically at the infielders converging around him. He had thrown 106 pitches and walked Shane Victorino in the previous at-bat, but looked more than capable of finishing things off.

Nevertheless, Bochy made the switch. Lincecum walked off the mound. Closer Brian Wilson replaced him.

Bochy said he pulled Lincecum because he had thrown 120 pitches in his last start, and, with a three-run lead, he thought it safe to err on the side of the righthander's young arm.

The Phillies were in no position to argue.

"Obviously, when he came out of the game, yeah, you're happy to see him leave," Victorino said, "but you're not like, 'Oh, yeah, we're going to do this.' It's not like at any point we try to do things differently. I mean, watching him come out of the game, you do kind of get a sigh of relief."

The fans booed. It would be the first of many opportunities to do so.

Placido Polanco flew out to centerfield, but Chase Utley singled, his 1,000th career hit, and Howard walked to load the bases. With two strikes and the runners going, Werth sent a fly ball slicing toward rightfield, where it landed in play on the chalk line to empty the bases. It was 4-4.

It was only the beginning. Pablo Sandoval singled to start the bottom of the ninth, but young righthander David Herndon retired three of the next four batters.

The Phillies took the lead in the 10th when Schneider scored from third on a wild pitch, but quickly gave it back, as Ryan Madson allowed a leadoff double to Nate Schierholtz and an RBI single to Andres Torres for his second blown save in six opportunities.

Then came the 11th. Raul Ibanez singled, moved to second on a sacrifice by Ben Francisco, then scored on a double by Valdez, a veteran utility man who was promoted from Triple A Lehigh Valley when Jimmy Rollins went on the disabled list on April 13.

"I was excited to be in the game in that type of situation," said Valdez, who had replaced Juan Castro at shortstop on a double-switch in the ninth. "I was looking for a pitch that I could drive, and I found it, and I hit it."

The Phillies added another run when Eugenio Velez dropped a routine fly ball by Victorino for what would have been the final out of the inning.

It proved costly.

With lefthander J.C. Romero and righthander Chad Durbin unavailable, manager Charlie Manuel called on Figueroa, the long reliever, for the save. Figueroa allowed two one-out singles - one of which bounced off his leg and rolled toward first base - then an RBI double to Schierholtz, who had five hits. But with the tying run on third, Howard fielded Velez' weak ground ball and threw home to Schneider, but wide of the plate. Out of position, Schneider sprawled in the dirt and reached out with his glove hand. Juan Uribe slid into the tag, his hand touching the catcher's mitt as he reached for the plate.

Torres grounded out, and the game ended.

"We're just taught, when in doubt, don't worry about where the runner is and stick the glove in front of home plate," Schneider said, "and luckily he slid right into my glove. My goal was just to spin back as quick as possible and find the plate and put the glove in front of the plate."

It was only one win. And the Phillies still head home having lost seven of their last 11. But it was the type of win that momentum is made of, and with an off day today and their first extended homestand of the season beginning tomorrow, it sure beat the alternative.

"We needed this," Manuel said. "We haven't been playing well. Actually, we didn't play real well today . . . At the end, we were doing better, but we were hanging on. But this is a big win for us."

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.