Morse homers as Giants hold off Marlins
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}San Francisco, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Michael Morse hit a two-run home run and finished with three RBI as the San Francisco Giants took a 6-4 win over the Miami Marlins to open a four-game set.
Buster Posey drove in a pair of runs, while Hunter Pence went 3-for-5 with two runs scored for the Giants, who have won four of their last five.
Matt Cain (1-3) gave up four runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings to get his first win in his seventh start of the season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He didn't cave in," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He gave up four runs in the first three innings and here he is in the eighth. It says a lot about him."
Garrett Jones hit a two-run home run, Derek Dietrich added a solo home run and Casey McGehee drove in the other run for the Marlins, who have lost six of their last seven games.
Nathan Eovaldi (2-2) was tagged for six runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings to take the loss.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Any time I got ahead, I left a fastball up or down the middle," Eovaldi said. "It's tough, especially when we keep scoring runs."
Miami got on the board in the first thanks to Dietrich's one-out solo home run, his fourth of the season.
In the second, the Marlins added to their lead as Reed Johnson hit a one-out ground-rule double, and Jones followed with his sixth homer of the year for a 3-0 advantage.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Giants got one back in the second as Tyler Colvin led off with a double, moved to third on Brandon Crawford's groundout and scored on Brandon Hicks' groundout.
Miami, though, answered in the third when McGehee doubled to score Christian Yelich, who led off the frame with a walk.
The Giants cut into their deficit in the third on Morse's two-run home run and went ahead in the fifth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Angel Pagan led off with a walk, and Pence followed with a single. Posey doubled them both home, then scored on a single from Morse for a 6-4 advantage.
The big inning didn't come without controversy, though. Before Pence had the basehit, he hit a soft grounder along the first base line and as he was running towards first, his foot appeared to make contact with the ball in fair territory, and it rolled foul.
The umpires called it a foul ball, and the play is not reviewable under the replay rules.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Johnson hit his second double of the game with two outs in the eighth, but Jeremy Affeldt took over and struck out Jones to end the frame.
Sergio Romo set the side down in order in the ninth for his 14th save of the season.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Miami right fielder Giancarlo Stanton went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 17 games, the longest active streak in the majors ... The Giants announced that Tim Hudson will miss his scheduled start on Friday with a hip strain. Yusmeiro Petit will start in Hudson's place ... Miami said on Thursday that pitcher Jose Fernandez has decided to undergo Tommy John surgery. The surgery will take place on Friday in Los Angeles and he will be out of action for at least 12 months.