CRUZ HITS FOR CYCLE, GIANTS CRUSH ROX
Aurilia's 1st Inning Slam Sets Tone
DENVER, July 10 (AP) - Jose Cruz, Jr. became the sixth major league player to
hit for the cycle this season, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 14-6 romp
over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Cruz is the first player to hit
for the cycle since Reed Johnson of the Toronto Blue Jays accomplished the feat
a month ago.
The Giants ran out to a big lead early, chasing Rockies starter Darren Oliver
from the game in the fourth inning.
San Francisco scored four runs in the first to gain a lead they would never
surrender. Ray Durham led off with a walk but Oliver retired the following
two hitters and seemingly was headed for a scoreless frame. Oliver pitched
very carefully to Barry Bonds and walked him, moving Durham to second.
Andres Galarraga followed with a sharp single to right field, filling the bases
and setting the table for Rich Aurilia who, on the very first pitch, deposited
an Oliver fastball 1/3 of the way up the left field bleachers for a grand slam
and a 4-0 Giants advantage.
The Giants added a run in the second on Cruz's solo home run and began to pile
on with two more runs in the fourth when Durham reached on a two-out infield
single and Cruz and Grissom followed with consecutive triples to increase the
San Francisco lead to 7-0.
The Rockies finally began to show signs of life offensively in the bottom of the
fourth when Larry Walker drove home Todd Helton, who had reached on a fielder's
choice, with a single to cut the deficit to 7-1.
Yorvit Torrealba's two-out RBI double in the top of the fifth got the run back
for the Giants but the Rockies cut the deficit to just three with a big four-run
fifth inning. With one out, Juan Uribe and pinch hitter Greg Norton lined
back-to-back singles. Mark Bellhorn grounded out, forcing Norton at second
and advancing Uribe to third, and Chris Stynes followed with a single to center,
scoring Uribe and advancing Bellhorn to second. Todd Helton then hammered
a three-run homer, extending his hitting streak to 17 games and cutting the San
Francisco lead to 8-5.
The Giants immediately got two of the runs back in the sixth. Durham and
Cruz opened the inning with back-to-back doubles and Aurilia singled later in
the inning to put the Giants on top, 10-5.
Colorado pulled to within four in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring
single off the bat of pinch hitter Mark Sweeney, and that's how the score stood
until the Giants put the game away once and for all in the top of the
ninth. With one out, Durham singled--his fourth hit of the game--and Cruz
came to the plate needing only a single to complete the cycle. Sure
enough, he grounded a ball through the right side of the infield, with Durham
stopping at second. Marquis Grissom followed by grounding a single of his
own through the middle, scoring Durham for the fourth time in the game, and
advancing Cruz to second. Bonds then belted a home run to right, his 23rd
long ball of the year. The three-run shot capped the scoring at 14-6.
The victory, coupled with the Dodgers' loss at St. Louis, increased the Giants'
lead in the National League West to 4 1/2 games.
7/10/2003, SF03-Col03, Coors Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Giants 4 1 0 2 1 2 0 0 4 14 20 0 10 0 2003 Rockies 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 6 12 0 6 1 Giants AB R H BI AVG Rockies AB R H BI AVG Durham 2b 5 4 4 0 .300 Bellhorn 2b 5 1 1 0 .275 Eyre p 0 0 0 0 .000 Stynes 3b 5 1 3 1 .293 Cruz,Jo rf 6 4 4 3 .259 Helton 1b 5 2 1 3 .348 Grissom cf 5 1 4 2 .305 Wilson,Pr cf 4 0 2 0 .287 Bonds lf 4 2 1 3 .356 Walker,L rf 4 0 1 1 .301 Galarraga 1b 5 1 1 0 .291 Payton lf 4 1 1 0 .281 Nathan p 0 0 0 0 .000 Johnson,C c 4 0 0 0 .250 Perez,N ph 1 0 1 0 .204 Uribe ss 4 1 1 0 .259 Aurilia ss 6 2 3 5 .322 Oliver p 1 0 0 0 .237 Alfonzo 3b 3 0 1 0 .288 Roa p 0 0 0 0 .667 Correia p 0 0 0 0 .000 Norton,G ph 1 0 1 0 .264 Snow ph 1 0 0 0 .269 Fuentes p 0 0 0 0 .000 Torrealba c 5 0 1 1 .293 Sweeney,Ma ph 1 0 1 1 .293 Powell,B p 3 0 0 0 .000 Reed,S p 0 0 0 0 .000 Feliz 3b 2 0 0 0 .282 Lopez,JA p 0 0 0 0 .000 46 14 20 14 Jimenez,J p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Belliard ph 1 0 0 0 .239 39 6 12 6 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Powell,B W 1-0 5.0 8 5 5 0 3 93 62 9.00 Correia H 1 2.0 3 1 1 0 1 38 26 4.50 Nathan 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 11 8 2.35 Eyre 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 19 11 4.74 9.0 12 6 6 0 7 161 107 Rockies INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Oliver L 9-4 3.2 8 7 7 1 5 78 50 4.02 Roa 1.1 3 1 1 0 0 18 11 3.38 Fuentes 1.0 4 2 2 1 2 32 16 3.74 Reed,S 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 31 16 5.08 Lopez,JA 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 15 10 2.31 Jimenez,J 1.0 5 4 4 0 0 29 20 6.44 9.0 20 14 14 4 9 203 123 SF : Feliz inserted at 3b in the 6th Snow batted for Correia in the 8th Snow moved to 1b in the 8th Perez,N batted for Nathan in the 9th Perez,N moved to 2b in the 9th Col: Norton,G batted for Roa in the 5th Sweeney,Ma batted for Fuentes in the 6th Belliard batted for Jimenez,J in the 9th 2B-Durham(23), Cruz,Jo(18), Aurilia(25), Torrealba(8), Stynes(20), Payton(21). 3B-Cruz,Jo(4). HR-Cruz,Jo(8), Bonds(23), Aurilia(9), Helton(24). RBI-Cruz,Jo 3(36), Grissom 2(56), Bonds 3(50), Aurilia 5(46), Torrealba(14), Stynes(40), Helton 3(69), Walker,L(43), Sweeney,Ma(12). K-Durham, Cruz,Jo 2, Bonds 2, Alfonzo, Torrealba 2, Snow, Bellhorn, Helton, Wilson,Pr, Payton, Johnson,C 2, Belliard. BB-Durham, Grissom, Bonds, Alfonzo. HBP-Bonds. HB-Reed,S. GWRBI: Aurilia Temperature: 93, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 6 MPH. Attendance: 23,832 Game Time: 3:17