http://0rz.tw/QAFxb Wilson punctuates Giants' comeback win By Chris Haft / MLB.com | 4/13/2011 3:33 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO -- Given the adversity Brian Wilson has endured this year, his first save of the season was destined to be significant. It also proved to be dominant. Wilson struck out the side in the ninth inning to preserve the Giants' arduous but satisfying 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Arduous, because the Giants faced a 3-0 deficit entering their half of the fourth inning. Satisfying, because they benefited from multiple contributions -- including the latest installment from Aaron Rowand, who tripled and scored the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning. "Resilience," Wilson said, providing the evening's keyword for the Giants. "We do play nine innings and not one person on this team forgets about that. Regardless of giving up the lead, we don't play for stats here. We play to win." As the right-hander entrusted with protecting ninth-inning leads, playing to win is essentially Wilson's job description. He began the season unable to perform his usual tasks, having endured back and oblique injuries that limited him to five Spring Training appearances. Wilson was clearly rusty upon leaving the disabled list; he surrendered five runs in 1 1/3 innings spanning his first two regular-season outings. Only through activity would Wilson regain his effectiveness. Thus, Sergio Romo's perfect eighth inning brought the game to Wilson and the sellout AT&T Park crowd to its feet before the ninth inning. Having created jams for himself in several of his Major League-high 48 saves last year, Wilson needed only 14 pitches to set down Xavier Paul, Tony Gwynn and Jamey Carroll. Wilson attributed his vast improvement to succeeding with every pitcher's basic approach. "I was staying ahead in the count, for the most part, trying to pump the strike zone and not trying to beat myself," he said. "If I'm going to get beat, they're going to have to beat me." Though Wilson never lost his confidence -- "Mentally, I'm fine," he said -- he definitely found his groove. "It gets his season under way," right-hander Tim Lincecum said. "People have faith in him to close the game out. He kind of struggled his last couple of outings, but he knows he's better than that. You saw that today. Three punchouts, as dominant as he is, was pretty awesome. ... That's the Wilson everybody wants to see." Wilson wasn't the only Giant intent on reviving himself. Having lost four of five games to the Dodgers and two in a row overall, the Giants showed their desire to reverse their fortunes as eight of their 12 able-bodied position players took extra batting practice more than four hours before the first pitch. Among them was Rowand, who tripled to open the bottom of the seventh before scoring on a wild pitch from Blake Hawksworth (1-1) to snap a 4-4 deadlock. With that run, the Giants matched their total for the previous three games. Buster Posey, batting only .214 (3-for-14) with runners in scoring position entering the game, drilled two-out RBI singles in the fourth and fifth as the Giants scored twice in each inning off Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley. "I think today was more about seeing the ball and competing, trying not to be so mechanical," Posey said. Pablo Sandoval followed Posey's fourth-inning hit with a run-scoring double on a 3-2 pitch that nearly burrowed itself beneath home plate. "My thinking in that situation is, I know Pablo is a very aggressive hitter and I didn't have to throw my breaking ball for a strike," Billingsley said. "I just wanted to have something around the zone, something to maybe get a ground ball somewhere or a swing and a miss. That's the way the game is. Things don't go the way you want to and you can't do anything about it." Lincecum worked 5 1/3 innings and departed with a 4-3 lead, which reliever Guillermo Mota maintained by striking out Rod Barajas and retiring Aaron Miles on a popup with the bases loaded. A grateful Lincecum properly thanked Mota in the Giants' dugout. "I gave him a big hug when he came out," Lincecum said. Marcus Thames' pinch-hit homer leading off the seventh against Jeremy Affeldt tied the score but only made the evening more thrilling for the Giants. "This lifts you up more than those kind of games when you're just coasting and winning 8-0," Lincecum said. Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. --

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