Span's 10th Inning Home Run Seals Win in Moore's Debut

When the San Francisco Giants traded for the services of Matt Moore from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for beloved homegrown infielder Matt Duffy, there was no denying that there were going to be tremendous expectations for the Florida product.

Moore's start may not have been the dominant gem Giants fans would have liked to witness, but what the lefty didn't have in control, he made up for in pure toughness.

The ex-Ray fought inconsistency with control and a small strike zone all throughout his first outing, willing his way past six tough innings while only allowing two runs in his debut with San Francisco.

While Moore made his debut on the mound, teammate Denard Span took this game to reintroduce himself, capping off his best series as a Giant with a go-ahead solo shot in the tenth, giving San Francisco the boost to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2.

The recently acquired speedy Eduardo Núñez challenged Span for the leadoff spot in the order, but the center fielder responded with his best series in a Giants uniform, batting 7 for 15 with two steals and four runs.

Span wasn't the only player with a chip on his shoulder, as Santiago Casilla, in response to the Giants' front office seeking a player to replace him, has stepped up his game as of late, converting 13 of his last 14 saves while not allowing a run in his last four appearances.

Casilla benefitted from some stellar defense from Núñez, who fielded a ball to his left, spun around, then threw a perfect one-hopper to Brandon Belt at first to record the first out of the tenth.

The stellar play comes on the heels of errors in consecutive games, prompting manager Bruce Bochy to meet with the former Minnesota Twin and assure him the third base position was his until the end of the season.

Núñez's solid defensive play allowed Casilla to set down the first batter in what was a clean 10th inning of work, securing just the Giants second road win since the All-Star Break and putting the cherry on top of Moore's debut.

The All-Star lefty struggled out the gate, giving up the one-run lead the Giants gave him in the bottom of the first by walking Cesar Hernandez and giving up a double to Aaron Altherr, which knocked in Hernandez.

Moore settled down after giving up the early lead, retiring the next six batters in order with ease.

He once again let a one-run lead slip through his hands when Freddy Galvis beat out a slowly hit potential double play ball that not even the quickest of exchanges between Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford could turn in time.

The real defining moment in his start came in that same inning when Moore had to face one more batter in Taylor Featherston to escape the inning with the ballgame still tied at two apiece.

With runners on first and third and at 105 pitches on the day, Moore dug deep and struck out Featherston on three pitches, the last of which was a beautiful knucklecurve that left the Phillie frozen in the batter's box.

In his six innings of work, Moore displayed a lot of the Giants were looking for when the team traded for him last week.

His knuckle curve was on full display, and it had beautiful, sharp movement, especially when Moore could locate it down in the zone, and his fastball peaked at 96.3 MPH.

While the six walks may not have been pretty, a little fine tuning with Dave Righetti, a fellow lefty, will get Moore ready for his AT&T Park debut next week.

Moore's six walks were due in part to a little bit of bad luck, as home plate umpire Dan Iassogna's strike zone squeezed pitchers in both dugouts all game long.

Bad luck is something Moore have to adapt to, as the Giants has consistently gotten the short end of the stick post-All Star Break.

In the top of the eight, Belt smoked a line drive which could have knocked in two runs if it fell, but Altherr dove and made a fantastic play, keeping the ballgame tied up at two apiece.

Span didn't put anything to chance when he got his shot in the tenth when he hooked a fastball down and in well over the right-field fence to give San Francisco the lead.

The San Francisco center fielder is heating up just in time for the Washington Nationals, both his former team and the area in which he grew up.

Span's go-ahead home run gave Sergio Romo the win despite him not having retired a batter.

When Romo faced Altherr, his one and only batter of the afternoon, Hernandez broke for second but was thrown out by Trevor Brown, ending the inning without Romo having to finish his duel with the Philadelphia center fielder.

Romo became the first Giant to record a win without recording an out since Tyler Walker accomplished the feat in 2005.

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