SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants don’t beat you with power. They seldom beat you with a barrage of hits.

But the walk-off wild pitch? They’ve got that one down cold.
On a night of brilliance from Matt Cain and two relievers, the Giants’ offense finally got the break it needed in the 11th inning. Nate Schierholtz hit a leadoff double, advanced on a ground ball and a wild pitch sent him home with the winning run in a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
After Schierholtz took third base, Texas right-hander Jason Jennings intentionally walked Pablo Sandoval and instead chose to challenge cleanup hitter Bengie Molina, who looked bad while chasing a first-pitch slider in the dirt. But Jennings’ next pitch bounced off the plate and skipped past catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia as Schierholtz raced home.
Third base coach Tim Flannery prepped Schierholtz for the possibility.
“Oh yeah, he was all over me about staying on the balls of my feet,” Schierholtz said. “Especially with Pablo up, then Bengie. You never know what they’ll throw to ’em.”
Molina has walked twice all season. And yes, he swung at the final pitch.
The Giants will shoot for a Texas three-step sweep today. The Rangers still haven’t won in nine interleague games at AT&T Park.
The Rangers’ free-swinging lineup couldn’t connect against Cain, who continued his dominant run by holding Texas to three hits over eight innings. He walked three, struck out eight and only allowed a tying home run to Ian Kinsler leading off the sixth inning.
With a victory, Cain (9-1) would have taken sole possession of the NL lead while joining Toronto’s Roy Halladay and Minnesota’s Kevin Slowey as the only 10-game winners in the majors. Instead, Cain took his first no-decision since May 12, ending a six-start winning streak. His 2.28 ERA ranks third in the NL.
Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo didn’t allow a hit while combining for three scoreless innings; Romo pitched around a leadoff walk in the 11th to earn the victory for the second consecutive night.
“Matty has been unreal all year long and the effort he put in today doesn’t change that opinion whatsoever,” Romo said. “Our other starters have been legit, but Cain is off the chains. The numbers speak for themselves, but I think he’s been even better than what the numbers show.”
Wilson had struggled when asked to preserve ties. Entering the game, he had allowed nine hits, five walks and six runs (four earned) in 5·innings when entering with a tie score.
This time, he took a cue from Cain.
“When our starter shows that kind of resilience, it feeds into the bullpen,” Wilson said.
Because it was Cain’s day to pitch, he didn’t take part in a pregame ceremony to honor Randy Johnson’s 300th victory. But Cain was inspired to pitch well in front of Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver and Gaylord Perry, three Hall of Famers in attendance.
“It’d definitely be cool to chat with those guys down the road,” Cain said.
Giants Manager Bruce Bochy sat Fred Lewis and Travis Ishikawa against Rangers left-hander Derek Holland, even though his two left-handed hitters smacked home runs a night earlier. Randy Winn started despite a .107 average from the right side; he grounded into double plays from both sides of the plate.
Holland limited the Giants to four hits in seven innings, giving up just a solo home run to Aaron Rowand in the third.
Rangers shortstop Omar Vizquel played at AT&T Park for the first time since the Giants declined to re-sign him, and as expected, he received an affectionate ovation in his first at-bat. Vizquel was 0-for-4 and remained at 2,677 career hits, tied with Luis Aparicio for the most by a Venezuelan in major league history.
Prior to the game, Bochy intimated that Matt Downs would remain his starting second baseman beyond Monday — the first day roster rules allow them to promote Kevin Frandsen from Triple-A Fresno.
“Right now, we don’t plan on changing anything,” Bochy said.