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PHILADELPHIA -- Hit or no hit, Maikel Franco was just happy the Phillies won.Franco drove home the winning run with one out in the 12th inning on a play that eventually was ruled a single to give Philadelphia a 5-4 victory over the struggling San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.Ryan Howard homered among his three hits and Cameron Rupp also connected for Philadelphia. Franco finished with three RBI, including one on the unusual sequence that ended the game.With the bases loaded and one out, Franco lined what appeared to be a clean single into right-center field. But young teammate Aaron Altherr, who was on first base, got so excited about the Phillies winning that he rushed out to right field to congratulate Franco without ever touching second base.Giants catcher Buster Posey noticed the blunder and took a throw at second from right fielder Hunter Pence -- and second base umpire Dale Scott signaled that Altherr was out. Franco did indeed cross first base, though, so Tommy Joseph scored easily from third and the Giants had no chance at an inning-ending double play.When I saw (Hunter) Pence run out to center field to get the ball, I was like, `Whats going on here? Altherr said. Then when I saw him throw to second I was like, `Oh, (no). I feel terrible about it. Im just thankful we still got the win.Altherr said he would buy Franco dinner if the mistake cost his teammate a hit, but after a long delay following the game, the official scorer credited Franco with a single.Its more important that we won the ballgame, Franco said before the ruling. I got my RBI, we win the ballgame, thats what this game is all about.Posey singled, doubled and drove in three runs for the NL West leaders, who have lost 13 of 17 since the All-Star break. Denard Span had three hits.George Kontos (2-2) started the 12th by hitting Joseph with a pitch. He went to second on Luis Garcias sacrifice bunt and Philadelphia had runners on first and second with one out after Kontos walked Cesar Hernandez.Giants manager Bruce Bochy called on Jake Peavy for his first appearance since being demoted to the bullpen when the team acquired left-hander Matt Moore from Tampa Bay on Monday.Peavy induced a grounder by Altherr, but he reached to load the bases when third baseman Eduardo Nunez bobbled the ball for an error.Franco then drove the next pitch from Peavy into right-center.Anytime you win in extra innings, its a great win, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. When you lose, its terrible.Garcia (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win, capping an impressive performance by Philadelphias bullpen. Six relievers combined to pitch seven shutout innings while allowing two hits.That was difference in the game, Bochy said. Their `pen shut us down completely.The teams combined to use 14 pitchers in a game that took 4 hours, 2 minutes.Franco hit a two-out, two-run single in the eighth off Giants starter Johnny Cueto to tie the score at 4 and complete Philadelphias comeback from a 4-0 deficit.FOR STARTERSGiants: Cueto was cruising along until giving up a pair of homers in the seventh and Francos hit in the eighth. He was lifted after allowing four runs in 7 2/3 innings while recording his 12th career double-digit strikeout game by fanning 10 Phillies. He gave up seven hits and walked one.I felt normal, Cueto said through a translator. I made all my pitches. The only thing I can say is they beat me.Phillies: Phil Klein recovered from a shaky first inning in an emergency start and lasted five innings, giving up four runs and eight hits. Philadelphia scratched scheduled starter Aaron Nola 4 hours before the game and placed him on the 15-day disabled list with a strained elbow.Prior to Wednesday, Klein made eight relief appearances for Texas this season and had pitched 36 games in his big league career. He was a 30th-round selection by the Rangers in 2011.Klein was optioned back to Triple-A after the game.NOLA SIDELINEDNola (6-9, 4.78 ERA) said he felt discomfort after his most recent start on Thursday in Atlanta.But I really didnt think it was anything, he said. It just kind of got sore a little bit. It kind of prolonged for the next couple of days and I told the (Phillies staff).The 23-year-old righty has been struggling for nearly two months and has a 9.82 ERA in his last eight starts. The Phillies skipped him once in the rotation before the All-Star break, but Nola said his struggles have had nothing to do with his health.No, no, I never felt any pain or any soreness, he said. I guess it just kind of flared up in that one game.Nola hopes to return this season, though the Phillies could be cautious with a young pitcher who is considered one of the key cornerstones in their rebuild.UP NEXTThe teams conclude their three-game series Thursday afternoon when Phillies RHP Vince Velasquez (8-3, 3.32 ERA) opposes Moore (7-7, 4.08). . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. .Y. -- Leading 3-0 with only 11:25 left, the Colorado Avalanche committed a seemingly meaningless penalty to give the New York Islanders a power play. Match factsWednesday, 23 November Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT)Big PictureDespite West Indies big win in Harare, on paper, these are two well-matched teams with plenty to play for: the winner will be guaranteed their place in the tri-series final. The relative inexperience in both squads makes it hard to pick an out-and-out favourite, and conditions in Bulawayo should also be a leveller. West Indies tied game against Zimbabwe will at least have acclimatised them a little more to the pitch and conditions at Queens, as Sri Lankas first match was rained off.Sri Lanka also have some ground to make up against West Indies after their trouncing in Harare. Their middle order remains unproven, and if this series can be viewed as something of an audition for the upcoming tour of South Africa, there will be several young players hungry to state their case - particularly against the greater firepower of West Indies quicks.Youth and international inexperience are also in no short supply for West Indies at the moment. It is obviously very early days yet, but without a head coach, and with virtually all of West Indies established senior batsmen in the wilderness, young captain Jason Holder desperately needs his peers to gel into a new core for the side. Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaites promising form will give him something to build and bank on, while Carlos Brathwaites bowling has been fairly effective in Zimbabwe.Both for this team and for the immediate future of West Indies cricket, every win is an important one in these circumstances. Though still ninth in the ICC ODI rankings, they are just one point behind Pakistan, and a strong show in their remaining games will put them within touching distance of Bangladesh at No. 7. Between now and September 30, 2017, the cut-off date for direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup, West Indies currently have 11 ODIs scheduled (not including the final of this tri-series), but eight of those matches are against a resurgent England ODI side, and five of those are in England. Thats a tough assignment for what could still be a fairly inexperienced squad, and so West Indies have a lot more than a place in Sundays final to play for tomorrow.Form guide(Last five completed matches, most recent first)Sri Lanka: LWLLLWest Indies: TWLLLIn the spotlightShai Hopes good form will buoy West Indies, and make him a target for Sri Lanka, while Suranga Lakmal will have to be at his best behaviour after he was fined 50% of his match fee for aggressively throwing the ball towards Zimbabwe opener Chamu Chibhabha during Mondays wash-out. Yet, the spotlight might be focussed on what is happening above Queens, rather than on the ground.All three teams will have an eye on the weather on Wednesday. If there is another wash-out, Zimbabwe will effectively be out of the running, needing a massive bonus-point win to draw level and increase their net run-rate. The threat of rain also makes the toss important - inclement weather is more likely in the afternoon, meaning there could be Duckworth-Lewis permutations while chasing. Finally, the drainage issues at Queens mean that even relatively modest rain could rule a match out entirely.There are two main areas of concern on the outfield, should it rain again - on the northern side of the ground, and also near the sight screen at the Airport End.dddddddddddd Should there be any significant showers during this game, in the absence of a super sopper, drainage will be an issue, especially after the heavy rains of the last few days have saturated the soil.Teams newsSri Lankas XI barely got a look-in on Monday, and given that conditions are likely to be identical, there is no reason for Sri Lanka to fiddle with their line-up. The grip on this slow surface makes Dasun Shanaka a good pick.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dhananjaya de Silva, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Upul Tharanga (capt), 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Sachith Pathirana, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Jeffrey VandersayWith two wickets in his last five games, and none in this series, the form of Sulieman Benn will be a worry for West Indies. Aside from Ashley Nurse, the other spin option in their squad is Devendra Bishoo, and given his gritty performance in the Tests against Pakistan last month, this change makes sense. Another player they might want to give a game to is Jason Mohammed, the hard-hitting middle-order batsman, though West Indies may want to secure their place in the final before tinkering with their top-six.West Indies (possible): 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Kraigg Brathwaite, 3 Evin Lewis, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 Jonathan Carter, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder (c), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Devendra Bishoo, 11 Shannon Gabriel.Pitch and conditionsThe heavy downpours on Monday morning were followed by sunny and dry weather in the afternoon as well as the following day. Yet, the rainfall patterns at this time of the year are difficult to predict, and though the forecast suggests that Wednesday should be sunny and dry, some sort of precipitation is out of the question. Weather aside, there should be some early movement for the seamers who will be aided by cloud cover, as well as what appears to be a shade more green grass that has been left on the track for Wednesdays match. The track will probably still slow down to help the spinners later in the day.Stats and triviaWith 148 runs from two innings, Shai Hope is the leading run-scorer of the tri-series as well as the only century-maker.Shannon Gabriel, Carlos Brathwaite and Nuwan Kulasekara top the wickets table with five each, although Kulasekara has played one more (albeit truncated) game than the two West Indians.West Indies have played six ODIs at Queens Sports Club, winning three.In eight ODIs against West Indies, Kulasekara has taken 12 wickets at 22.08.QuotesWe know were playing good cricket. We had a good win against Sri Lanka [in Harare]. These lads work very hard on their fitness, and we do a lot of fielding drills in the days leading up to these matches, and the combination of those two things is starting to pay dividends. Were looking like a good fielding side, and at this level of the game, every run you stop is a run you dont have to score. West Indies batting coach Toby Radford has been most pleased with the young batsmen on this tour, but he has also noticed improvements in the field. ' ' '
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