SAN FRANCISCO - The Giants had their press conference room closely guarded Wednesday, and for good reason. Inside, a replica throne was waiting for Thursday's "Game of Thrones" night, and it was waiting for a victorious manager.
That set up a potentially awkward situation. Bruce Bochy has done so many morose press conferences this season, but Buster Posey made sure his manager didn't have to sit on a throne and discuss another loss. Posey's two-run pinch-hit double with two outs in the eighth gave the Giants a 5-4 win and allowed Bochy to soak in his "Game of Thrones" moment.
"Duane Kuiper is the one who got me watching it," Bochy said, looking comfortable. "The only thing about sitting in this chair - I've got to be honest - I know the kings that sit in this chair get killed off. I am a little nervous right now that Larry (Baer) wanted me to sit in this chair."
Bochy was never going to be the one to pay for this season's downfall, but he has had to wear the tough losses. On Wednesday he got to enjoy a come-from-behind win, and it felt a wee bit bigger than that. For three days, the Giants have mostly played their brand of baseball. Only a poor underhanded throw from Matt Moore on Monday night kept them from sweeping the reigning American League champions.
"We have bits and pieces of it here," Matt Cain said. "The biggest thing is to just not sit here and go down the dark hole of here we go again. Bad things do happen during the game but we're way more talented than that and we've got a tremendous group of guys in here who can play good baseball. If we keep on the right mentality and get a lot of things right, we'll get this thing rolling the right way."
Cain gave up three runs in his six innings, but the Giants trailed heading into the eighth. Bochy had gone with his Bomb Squad lineup, and that allowed him to pull a trump card out with two on and two outs. Posey hit for Kelby Tomlinson and he smoked a double that bounced to the wall in left. A few hours after pitching two innings in an extra-innings win, Sam Dyson stranded the tying run on third in a tortuous ninth. The Giants picked up a rare series win.
Sports
"These last two games are the kind of magic we're used to having," Bochy said from his throne. "It's good to recreate that."
