GIANTS EXTEND 'W' STREAK TO 10
Cruz Homers Twice, Drives in 5
SAN FRANCISCO, July 21 (AP) - Jose Cruz, Jr. hit a pair of home runs and drove
in five as the San Francisco Giants extended the second longest winning streak
in the majors this season to ten games with an 8-4 victory over the Arizona
Diamondbacks at Pacific Bell Park. The win extended the Giants' advantage
over the second place Los Angeles Dodgers to 8 1/2 games in the National League
West.
San Francisco spotted the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth
inning. Steve Finley singled with one out and advanced to third on Chad
Moeller's double. Quinton McCracken then lifted a sacrifice fly to right,
scoring Finley to break the scoreless tie, with Moeller advancing to
third. Giants starter Jerome Williams walked Lyle Overbay intentionally to
bring the Arizona pitcher, Elmer Dessens, to the plate. But Dessens foiled
the strategy by lining a single to left-center, scoring Moeller and doubling the
Diamondbacks' lead. Craig Counsell rolled out to end the inning.
The Giants immediately responded. J.T. Snow led off the bottom of the
fourth with a double down the right field line. Marquis Grissom grounded
out to short and Dessens walked Barry Bonds intentionally to face Cruz who
promptly caused Dessens to regret the move when the Giants right fielder lined a
home run into the left field seats for a 3-2 San Francisco lead.
The Giants blew the game open and drove Dessens from the game in the
fifth. Yorvit Torrealba led off the frame with a double to right and
Williams sacrificed him to third. Ray Durham followed by looping a single
to center, scoring Torrealba for a 4-2 San Francisco advantage. Snow then
belted a two-run homer to the deepest part of right-center field. His
seventh home run of the season gave the Giants a 6-2 lead. Grissom was
next and he grounded to third baseman Shea Hillenbrand who airmailed first
baseman Overbay for a two-base error. That was the end of the day for
Dessens. He was replaced by lefty Stephen Randolph who retired Bonds on a
fly ball for the second out. But Cruz flexed his muscles for the second
time in the game, this time from the right-handed batter's box. His
majestic drive landed in the left field bleachers and gave San Francisco an 8-2
lead.
That essentially ended the game. The Diamondbacks picked up a couple of
consolation runs in the ninth inning on Luis Gonzalez's two-run drive to right,
but it was far too little too late.
Just about the only thing that didn't go right for the Giants was the
termination of Bonds' hitting streak. The 16-game effort was the longest
by a San Francisco batter this season.
7/21/2003, Ari03-SF03, Pacific Bell Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Diamondbacks 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 11 1 9 1 2003 Giants 0 0 0 3 5 0 0 0 x 8 9 0 4 3 Diamondbacks AB R H BI AVG Giants AB R H BI AVG Counsell ss 3 0 0 0 .228 Durham 2b 4 1 2 1 .298 Kata 2b 5 1 2 0 .221 Snow 1b 4 2 2 2 .277 Gonzalez,L lf 5 1 3 2 .293 Grissom cf 3 1 0 0 .304 Hillenbrand 3b 5 0 0 0 .305 Bonds lf 3 1 0 0 .359 Finley cf 3 1 1 0 .250 Cruz,Jo rf 4 2 2 5 .267 Moeller c 4 1 1 0 .283 Aurilia ss 4 0 1 0 .309 Myers,M p 0 0 0 0 .000 Worrell p 0 0 0 0 .000 McCracken rf 2 0 1 1 .188 Alfonzo 3b 4 0 0 0 .275 Overbay 1b 2 0 1 0 .233 Torrealba c 4 1 2 0 .325 Baerga ph 1 0 0 0 .340 Williams,J p 0 0 0 0 .167 Dessens p 2 0 1 1 .227 Herges p 0 0 0 0 .000 Randolph p 1 0 0 0 .000 Christiansen p 0 0 0 0 .000 Valverde p 0 0 0 0 .000 Perez,N ph 1 0 0 0 .191 Hammock c 1 0 1 0 .276 31 8 9 8 34 4 11 4 Diamondbacks INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Dessens L 11-5 4.1 6 7 6 1 0 58 39 3.61 Randolph 1.1 1 1 1 1 1 27 15 4.04 Valverde 1.1 1 0 0 1 0 15 8 3.54 Myers,M 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 10 7 7.65 8.0 9 8 7 3 1 110 69 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Williams,J W 3-3 6.0 7 2 2 3 4 120 66 4.69 Herges H 5 1.1 1 0 0 2 0 31 16 4.71 Christiansen 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2.13 Worrell 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 14 9 2.54 9.0 11 4 4 5 4 166 92 Ari: Baerga batted for Overbay in the 8th Baerga moved to 1b in the 8th Hammock inserted at c in the 8th SF : Perez,N batted for Christiansen in the 8th Perez,N moved to ss in the 9th E-Hillenbrand. 2B-Moeller(18), Durham(25), Snow(16), Torrealba(10). HR-Gonzalez,L(16), Snow(7), Cruz,Jo 2(10). RBI-Gonzalez,L 2(55), McCracken(9), Dessens(2), Durham(40), Snow 2(41), Cruz,Jo 5(49). K-Hillenbrand 2, Moeller 2, Aurilia. BB-Counsell 2, Finley, McCracken, Overbay, Grissom, Bonds, Williams,J. SH-Williams,J 2. SF-McCracken. GWRBI: Cruz,Jo Temperature: 82, Sky: clear, Wind: out to center at 16 MPH. Attendance: 40,546 Game Time: 2:47