Giants top Phillies, 6-5, to take 3-1 lead in NLCS

SAN FRANCISCO - Juan Uribe hit a game-ending sacrifice fly off reliever Roy Oswalt with one out in the ninth inning as the Giants moved within one win of the World Series, beating the Phillies, 6-5, last night for a 3-1 lead in the NLCS.

Aubrey Huff singled with one out in the ninth and took third when rookie Buster Posey singled for his fourth hit of the game. Uribe hit a medium-deep fly, leaving leftfielder Ben Francisco with no chance to get the sliding Huff.

Oswalt caught Francisco's throw in disgust and had to meander through a sea of celebrating Giants to get off the field.

"I got butterflies," winning pitcher Brian Wilson said. "I got anxiety. I got a mini-ulcer developing, but it's all worth it.

"We never lost focus."

Just when the Phillies' quiet bats woke up, a bullpen that had been reliable this postseason couldn't hold on. Chad Durbin blew a 4-2 lead in the sixth, when the Giants scored three times, with two runs coming on Pablo Sandoval's double.

The two-time defending NL champions, who had the best record in the majors this year, are suddenly on the brink of elimination. They'll send Roy Halladay against Tim Lincecum in Game 5 tonight - it's a rematch of aces that Lincecum won in the opener.

Going to Oswalt to begin the ninth backed manager Charlie Manuel's words that this was his club's biggest game yet this year. Oswalt, one of the majors' top starters, beat the Giants Sunday in Game 2. He's made only a few relief appearances in the last several years, including a stint in the 2004 NLCS for the Astros.

Uribe, playing despite a sore left wrist that kept him out of the starting lineup, entered at shortstop in the ninth. He immediately picked up a hard one-hopper by pinch hitter Ross Gload in the hole and made a strong throw while falling away for the out.

Wilson, the major-league saves leader with 48, pitched a perfect ninth.

After Freddy Sanchez lined out to right to start the bottom half, Huff and Posey singled. Rightfielder Jayson Werth made a nice sliding stop on the warning track to keep Huff from scoring.

Then came Uribe, 1-for-7 in the NLCS before this one. On a 1-and-1 pitch, he claimed he was hit in the hand by Oswalt's fastball, but plate umpire Wally Bell said it was a foul ball.

Uribe wound up with the game-winner moments later, leaving the Giants just one victory shy of reaching the World Series for the first time in eight years. They haven't won a world championship since 1954, four years before they moved from New York.

Posey starred at the plate and behind it, too. He made a great play at the plate to save a run earlier, neatly handling a short-hop throw from centerfielder Aaron Rowand and tagging out Carlos Ruiz.

Werth hit a tying RBI double off reliever Santiago Casilla in the eighth after Ryan Howard doubled against Javier Lopez leading off the inning.