Major League Roundup : Giants Beat Cubs, 1-0, in the 12th

Manny Trillo looked at a called third strike in the eighth inning Thursday, and he wasn’t about to take another when he batted in the 12th.

“I was going to swing if the pitch was anywhere close,” said Trillo, whose two-out single in the 12th gave the San Francisco Giants a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Candlestick Park.

Warren Brusstar, the Cubs’ third pitcher of the game, had an 0-2 count on Trillo when he served up the final pitch, a slider, which Trillo lined into left field.

In the eighth, Trillo said: “I thought the last pitch was a ball, but I didn’t say anything to the umpire.”

On Wednesday night, when the Cubs’ Rick Sutcliffe won a 1-0 pitching duel, Trillo was ejected from the game for protesting a called third strike.

Thursday’s victory was the Giants’ fourth in their last five games, but Trillo’s RBI ended a string of 24 consecutive scoreless innings by the offense.

“I’ve never seen runs so hard to come by in my life,” Manager Jim Davenport said. “But we just kept battling, and that’s what I like to see.”

Said Chicago Manager Jim Frey: “Obviously, there was a lot of good pitching out there. But we had a lot of chances to score. They had more than us, but we had two or three opportunities and just couldn’t get on the board.”

Atlee Hammaker and reliever Scott Garrelts (1-1) combined on a four-hit shutout. Garrelts allowed one hit over the last four innings in gaining the decision over Brusstar (0-1).

Rob Deer, batting for Garrelts, lined a two-out single to center in the 12th and went to second when Brusstar hit Dan Gladden. Trillo followed with his game-winning single to left.

Hammaker scattered three hits and struck out four through eight innings. Chicago starter Scott Sanderson pitched out of several jams while allowing eight hits and striking out nine in nine innings. Lee Smith pitched two innings before giving way to Brusstar.

Chicago catcher Steve Lake made two exceptional fielding plays in the ninth, preventing the Giants from scoring and forcing extra innings.

Chili Davis opened the inning with a single and went to third on Chris Brown’s single one out later. When the relay from the outfield went through to the plate, Brown took off for second and Davis broke for the plate. But Lake grabbed a return throw from Cub second baseman Ryne Sandberg and tagged out the sliding Davis.

Lake then got the third out of the inning by making a diving catch of a foul ball hit by Alex Trevino.

The Cubs’ biggest threat occurred in the fifth after Chris Speier walked with two outs. Sanderson singled to center and, when Dan Gladden misplayed the ball in center field for an error, Speier went to third. But Sanderson was thrown out at second on the play to end the inning.

San Diego 1, Pittsburgh 0--Tim Flannery said he was keeping a promise to his 11-day-old son, Daniel, when he stroked a two-out, seventh-inning single to drive in the only run in the Padres’ victory at Pittsburgh.

“We got up at 6 o’clock and had a talk, and I told him I was going to hit one for him,” Flannery said.

“He just better be out there mowing the lawn when I get home.”

Flannery’s single drove in Carmelo Martinez from second base and made a winner of left-hander Mark Thurmond, 1-2 after tossing a three-hitter for his second career shutout.

“It’s good to get the first win under your belt, and you feel a lot better when you know you’re contributing,” Thurmond said.

“We’re out there to win a ball game, and going all the way doesn’t matter as long we come out on top.”

Thurmond didn’t allow a runner past second base while striking out three as San Diego won its third straight game. Pittsburgh suffered its fourth loss in a row.

Martinez led off the Padres’ seventh by drawing a walk off Pirate rookie right-hander Mike Bielecki (1-2). After Garry Templeton popped out, Thurmond helped his cause by bunting Martinez to second. Flannery followed with a single off the glove of Pittsburgh second baseman Johnny Ray.