Giants held to three hits; still beat BoSox. Really!

It wasn't the number of hits; there were precious few of them. Getting the right hit at the right time? Aye, that's the ticket.

San Francisco's three-game skid came to an end Wednesday night on the strength of a pair of well-timed long balls as the Giants survived a battle of aces to topple visiting Boston 2-1, splitting the two-game set.

The night's hero takes the tour for the first time. (AP Photo)

Madison Bumgarner and David Price, yes another of the guys the Giants didn't get this off-season, squared off in a duel that came as advertised. But each got the job done in a decidedly different way. 

Bumgarner didn't have his best stuff, allowing a single to open the affair and battling through a 30-plus pitch third inning but keeping the BoSox off the board. Price was just unhittable. Of course it didn't help that Buster Posey is still nursing a thumb injury and Joe Panik got a night off. Add in injuries to Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence and the Giants were depending on the likes of Mac Williamson, Jarrett Parker and Kelby Tomlinson. Who could play hero?

For the enemy. let's take a moment to say we're really getting tired of Chris Young. He was a thorn in the Giants' paw on Tuesday and a day later he opened the scoring, taking a two-out, two-strike offering over the left field wall in the BoSox's half of the fourth. It was roped; one of those hide-the-kids smokers that leave you thankful it only counted for one run.

One good turn, yada yada yada. Price enjoyed his lead for a whole third of an inning. Brandon Belt, the last Giant to reach McCovey Cove back in September of 2014, found it again. His towering solo blast was a threat to sea life, tying the score and marking the 69th Giants "Splash Hit" since AT&T Park opened its gates.

With the game tied 1-1 after four, the major difference was how hard the hurlers had to work. Bumgarner needed 101 pitches to get through his six frames. At the same distance, Price had made 68. The blast from Belt was just the second hit of the night for San Francisco.

Bumgarner's pitch count was the kind of thing that makes the hair stand up on the back of Giants fans necks. It's common to see him reach triple digits, but seeing him do so that early is akin to hearing air raid sirens because it means that cursed bullpen phone is gonna ring, or it would if the otherwise-geniuses who designed AT&T Park actually had included bullpens.

Derek Law came on for the seventh and promptly surrendered a single of the infield variety before sitting down the next three hitters; returning emergency rooms all over the Bay Area to DefCon 4. Cory Gearin likewise set the BoSox down in the eighth.

Meanwhile, Price started to show some chinks in the armor, giving up a walk and a loud out in a protracted seventh. Then in the home eighth, with the Giants in desperate need of a hero, cue Bonnie Tyler.

Williamson took Price's first offering and lifted a majestic shot to left, a high-arching blast that descended on top of the Chevron cars adorning the pads. For a moment the cartoon dog leaning out of the orange auto appeared ready to make the catch, and if had he would have deserved being neutered on the spot. Instead the ball bounded into the seats for Williamson's first career homer.

Good news: the Giants took a 2-1 lead into the ninth. Bad news: Santiago Casilla was coming in. It didn't take long for trouble to find him, but it had help.

Hanley Ramirez scorched a drive to deep left that Williamson butchered, playing a scary out into an even-scarier two-base error. Casilla needed a strikeout, and got it, back-dooring Jackie Bradley Jr. for out number one. So, of course, Boston called David Ortiz's number. 

With no DH spot available, the specter of Ortiz lurked, offering up that feeling you get when you walk into your kitchen and have to ask "Do you smell gas?" 

Yes, someone not named Casilla can pitch the ninth.

Ortiz wouldn't get a crack at Casilla as Manager Bruce Bochy played the match-up game with veteran Loogy Javy Lopez getting the call. Lopez, who shared a 2007 World Series title with Big Papi, jumped ahead 0-2 but Ortiz worked a walk. It put the tying run on base but also put the double play in order.

Lopez stayed in to face Travis Shaw and got a much needed whiff for out number two, then departed. Hunter Strickland, the third  pitcher of the inning, was asked to get the last out against pinch hitter Marco Hernandez.

Strickland's first save of the year came on his first pitch as Hernandez grounded meekly to short a force play that turned Williamson's goat horns back into a hero's feast.

Bumgarner allowed four hits and struck out five while walking one. He lowered his ERA to 1.88 but had to settle for a no decision. Gearin (2-0) got the win, notching a pair of strikeouts in his inning of work.

Price did all the lifting for Boston and took the loss, striking out seven and walking two. He was touched for just three hits, with Matt Duffy's second-inning single the only ball that didn't leave the yard.

And we gritted our teeth. MadBum and Price are both staples of our fantasy team.

Giants fans got more good news when Colorado shaved the Dodgers 1-0 behind Chris Rusin, Jake McGee (another fantasy grab) and Daniel Descalso's RBI single in the seventh. The combination put the 36-25 G-Men four games up on LA heading into tomorrow's day off.

Now here's the killjoy moment. MadBum's spot in the rotation won't come up when the Giants and Dodgers face off this weekend beside The Bay. Action resumes Friday evening with Johnny Cueto (9-1, 2.16 ERA) set to face Clayton Kershaw (8-1, 1.46).

Bumgarner will have his bat handy.

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