SAN FRANCISCO — Manager Bruce Bochy had been ejected after another close call didn't go the San Francisco Giants' way. A rare ninth-inning lead was erased with one big swing by Alex Rodriguez.

The frustration of a season-high eight-game losing streak was boiling over until rookie Nate Schierholtz delivered a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 13th inning that gave the Giants a 6-5 victory over the New York Yankees yesterday.

"We saved some sanity around here with the streak we've been in," Bochy said. "They just gritted this thing out and found a way to get a win. We needed it bad."

The Giants had to rally from an early three-run deficit and overcome Rodriguez's game-tying home run in the ninth inning before getting their first win since June 12.

Ryan Klesko started the winning rally with a single against Scott Proctor (1-4) and moved to second on Bengie Molina's sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Omar Vizquel lined two balls down the left-field line that were barely foul before reaching on an infield single.

Schierholtz then won it with a soft single that fell in front of center fielder Melky Cabrera. The Giants poured out of the dugout and mobbed Schierholtz on the infield. The rookie has 10 hits in 25 at-bats this season but none bigger than this one.

"It's been tough," said Schierholtz, who played for the Waikiki Beach Boys in the Hawaii Winter Baseball league. "I got here just a couple of weeks ago. We won our first couple of games and then went on a slide. It's definitely a big win."

Barry Bonds gave the Giants a 5-4 lead in the seventh when he walked with the bases loaded against Brian Bruney. Bonds also hit an RBI single in the sixth and remained at 749 career home runs — six shy of tying Hank Aaron's career record of 755.

New York looked to be on its way to a second straight win in the series when Chien-Ming Wang took a 4-2 lead into the seventh.