Things looked grim for the Yankees when they found themselves losing a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning following a couple close calls that went the Giants' way. The Giants lengthened their lead to a 7-5 margin when pitcher Kellan Barker's throw beat the runner to home plate, but the tag was applied so high that it allowed the runner's foot to cross the plate first.

The Yankees promptly brought in Chris Henderson, who would close out the last four innings for the victory, and moved Barker to third. With one out, Henderson got the first batter he faced to hit a grounder to third. Barker threw home and catcher Elliott Boesch applied a perfect tag to nail the runner at home. As Henderson received the ball and walked to the mound, another Giants runner tried to sneak around third to score. But Henderson reacted quickly and rocketed a throw to Boesch, who again laid down a good tag for the third and final out of the inning.

"Those two tags at home were huge because if they scored those runs, we might not have psychologically been able to come back," said Yankee manager Cory Gurley.

Soon, the Yankees proved a two-run deficit in the sixth inning was something they could come back from. Desmond McCann reached base to lead off the sixth, followed by Henderson's walk with one out. After a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, Barker stepped to the plate with first base empty. The Giants called timeout after the count went to 2-0 to the big hitter, and presumably decided to pitch two balls off the plate to load the bases. But Barker slapped a single up the middle to tie the game on a 3-0 pitch that caught too much of the plate.

Henderson carried the momentum into the bottom of the frame and struck out the side. After the Yankees got nothing in their first extra-inning at-bat, the Giants looked to win it in the bottom of the seventh.

The Giants' Nathan Leon reached on an error to start the inning and was advanced to third on a wild pitch and a sacrifice. Mark Jensen then hit a slow grounder to third that caused Barker to fall to his knees while fielding the ball. And with the winning run about to cross the plate, Barker fired a throw from his knees to retire Jensen at first.

"That was the biggest play of the game," said Gurley. "If they score there, then we don't even get another chance."

The Yankees immediately took advantage of the new opportunities in the eighth. Dane Gurley got things started with a walk and Barker followed by beating out an infield single to shortstop. Boesch then hit a high chopper to short, and the throw home came too late to beat the speedy Gurley. Barker showed off his baserunning skills by scampering home for the second run of the inning on a wild pitch. The Yankees added one more run to make it 10-7 on David Lobato's RBI ground out.

Henderson surrendered his only hit—a leadoff triple in the eighth by Anthony Salciccia—but settled down to close out the inning and seal the 10-8 victory.

Coach Gurley gave Henderson the game ball for his 3 2/3 innings of work, where he gave up one run, one hit and struck out four. Henderson also helped the Yankees dig out of a 3-0 hole in the second inning with his two-run double off the wall in left-center which helped propel the Yankees to a five run outburst.

Game balls could have gone to several players as well. Gurley reached base five times, drawing three walks and two fielder's choices. Barker bounced back magnificently from the rough fifth inning by turning in several of the game's biggest plays. He also reached base four times and recorded three hits in the game.

"I told Kellan (Barker) not to give up," said Coach Gurley. "Our team philosophy is to play hard for six innings or however long it takes. And that's what we did today."