PATTERSON, D-BACKS STIFLE GIANTS
No-Hit Bid Ends in 8th

SAN FRANCISCO, May 28 (AP) - Making just his second start of the season, John Patterson took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before settling for a two-hit, complete game shutout as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the San Francisco Giants, 2-0, at Pac Bell Park.  It was the eighth shutout of the season for the Diamondbacks, tying them with the Giants for the major league lead.  Patterson (1-0) managed to outduel San Francisco starter Damian Moss (6-4), who fired seven innings of one-run ball himself.

Moss escaped a serious two-out threat by Arizona in the fourth.  After retiring Danny Bautista and Lyle Overbay on strikes to open the inning, Moss yielded a single to Matt Williams and Steve Finley's double to the left-center field gap put runners on second and third.  Chad Moeller was given an intentional free pass to fill the bases and Patterson rolled into an inning-ending fielder's choice.

The Diamondbacks finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the sixth.  Bautista led off with a single and advanced to second on Overbay's hit-and-run grounder.  Williams popped to third for the second out of the frame but Finley followed with his second two-bagger of the game, this one to right-center field, scoring Bautista with the game's first run.  Moss retired Moeller on a grounder to short to end the inning.

Arizona added an insurance run in the eighth with a rally that was aided immeasurably by a Giants' miscue.  Facing reliever Joe Nathan, Luis Gonzalez flied to center for the first out but Bautista singled through the box.  Overbay walked, putting runners on first and second.  Shortstop Rich Aurilia then let Williams' sure double play ball go right through his legs, filling the bases with only one out.  Scott Eyre replaced Nathan to face the lefty swinging Finley, but the Diamondbacks center fielder lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Bautista to put Arizona on top, 2-0.

Patterson, meanwhile, was setting the Giants down with surprising ease.  Barry Bonds drew a lead-off walk in the second, but Patterson retired the next 19 San Francisco hitters in a row.  With one out in the eighth, J.T. Snow looped a ball into right-center field.  Right fielder Bautista made a full dive but came up empty and the Giants had their first hit of the game.  Patterson immediately induced a double play ball off the bat of Pedro Feliz to end the inning.

In the ninth, Patterson retired Jose Cruz, Jr. on a pop fly to first, and then set down pinch hitter Ruben Rivera on a fly to center.  Marquis Grissom then fisted a looper that landed just inside the right field line for the second San Francisco hit of the contest, bringing Ray Durham to the plate.  The Giants second baseman worked ahead in the count 2-0 and then lifted a long fly to left.  It was as well hit a ball as San Francisco had managed off Patterson all day, but Gonzalez ran it down at the edge of the warning track to end the game.

Patterson becomes just the third National League hurler to toss a complete game two-hit shutout thus far this season.  Mark Redman of the Florida Marlins turned the trick against the New York Mets on April 18 and Tim Redding of the Astros stymied the Cubs on May 24.

5/28/2003, Ari03-SF03, Pacific Bell Park
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2003 Diamondbacks      0  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0     2  6  0    10  1
2003 Giants            0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  2  2     2  0
 
Diamondbacks         AB  R  H BI   AVG    Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Cintron           ss  5  0  0  0  .276    Grissom           cf  4  0  1  0  .340
Baerga            2b  5  0  0  0  .358    Durham            2b  4  0  0  0  .262
 Spivey           2b  0  0  0  0  .287    Aurilia           ss  3  0  0  0  .291
Gonzalez,L        lf  4  0  0  0  .277    Bonds             lf  2  0  0  0  .345
Bautista          rf  4  2  2  0  .305    Santiago,B        c   3  0  0  0  .268
Overbay           1b  3  0  0  0  .248    Snow              1b  3  0  1  0  .293
Williams,Ma       3b  4  0  1  0  .259    Feliz             3b  3  0  0  0  .296
Finley            cf  3  0  3  2  .216    Cruz,Jo           rf  3  0  0  0  .243
Moeller           c   1  0  0  0  .292    Moss              p   2  0  0  0  .333
Patterson,Jo      p   4  0  0  0  .000     Nathan           p   0  0  0  0  .000
                     33  2  6  2           Eyre             p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                           Brower           p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                           Rivera,R         ph  1  0  0  0  .208
                                                               28  0  2  0
 
Diamondbacks                     INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Patterson,Jo     W 1-0           9.0  2  0  0  1  6  96  62  1.20
                                 9.0  2  0  0  1  6  96  62
 
Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Moss             L 6-4           7.0  5  1  1  3  4 111  66  3.77
Nathan                           0.1  1  1  0  1  0  10   6  2.49
Eyre                             0.1  0  0  0  0  0   2   1  2.35
Brower                           1.1  0  0  0  1  1  20  12  1.77
                                 9.0  6  2  1  5  5 143  85
 
Ari: Spivey inserted at 2b in the 9th
SF : Rivera,R batted for Brower in the 9th
 
E-Aurilia, Santiago,B. 2B-Finley 2(11). RBI-Finley 2(18). SB-Finley(4).
K-Gonzalez,L, Bautista 2, Overbay, Patterson,Jo, Grissom, Durham, Aurilia,
Feliz, Cruz,Jo, Moss. BB-Gonzalez,L, Overbay, Moeller 3, Bonds. SF-Finley.
GWRBI: Finley
Temperature: 59, Sky: clear, Wind: out to center at 15 MPH.
Attendance: 40,454
Game Time: 2:38