Obstruction call still dismays SF

SAN FRANCISCO -- A day later the Giants were still perplexed over umpire Gary Cederstrom's obstruction call from Sunday night, when Shane Victorino ran into Omar Vizquel on the infield grass.

Adding to the intrigue, Victorino admitted he intentionally ran into Vizquel.

"Running into (Vizquel) was my only escape," Victorino told the Philadelphia Daily News. "I said, 'I'm running right into him, trying to get an interference call.' "

Upon hearing that on Monday, Vizquel had no hard feelings against Victorino: "That's good baseball. He was going to be out. He had to make something happen and he did."

Manager Bruce Bochy said he had reviewed the rule Cederstom cited -- that Victorino was entitled to a straight line from where he was to the next base, not necessarily a straight line between the two bases -- and he still didn't like it.

"I think you're opening up a can of worms if you say a guy can create his own baseline," Bochy said. "At some point common sense has to come into play where a guy can run."

By the way, the scoring was changed from that play on Monday. Victorino's subsequent run, initially ruled an unearned run, has been charged as an earned run to pitcher Tim Lincecum.

TALE OF TWO ELBOWS

Russ Ortiz played catch for the first time since he was placed on the disabled list because of a "burning" sensation in his right elbow last week. Ortiz said he has been getting better each day.

Outfielder Dave Roberts, though, was out of the lineup because the pain in his left elbow has returned. Roberts was out of the lineup twice last week, then he returned to play five consecutive games before the Giants shut him down again.

He didn't start on Sunday or Monday. He said he is hopeful to play today, but the Giants may opt to give him another day off because they are facing a left-handed pitcher for the third consecutive day anyway.

"I thought a couple of days would do it, but apparently not," Roberts said. "Hopefully this couple of days will help."

Roberts said the injury affects his throwing and his hitting. He was 2-for-19 playing with the injury last week.

MO RETURNS

Moises Alou returned to San Francisco for the first time since the end of his two-year stint with the Giants, saying he was "disappointed" with his time in San Francisco.

"I came to go to the playoffs, to help my dad win," he said. "Unfortunately we had a lot of injuries, myself included, and Barry was out."

Alou said he was also disappointed that his father, Felipe, was not asked back to manage the Giants in 2007, but he understood: "They wanted to make a change. That's part of the game. Of course I wanted my dad to come back. I wanted him to manage the team for the rest of his life."

BRIEFLY

Fresno outfielder Nate Schierholtz was named Pacific Coast League player of the week after hitting .545 with a homer and nine RBIs.

Tom Glavine will be trying for his 294th victory tonight against the Giants.

The Giants have moved their Aug. 12 home game against the Pirates to 12:05 p.m., allowing them to get out earlier for the doubleheader the next day in Pittsburgh. That doubleheader will start at 5:05 p.m. ET, moved up 30 minutes from the time the Pirates announced.Contact Staff Writer Jeff Fletcher at 521-5489 or jeff.fletcher@pressdemocrat.com.