SCALDING HOT BONDS, GIANTS CONTINUE RUN
S.F. Wins 8th Straight, 22nd of 24
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 6 (AP) - The San Francisco Giants continued laying waste to
the National League, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 at Pacific Bell Park
for their eighth consecutive victory and 22nd win in their last 24 games.
Barry Bonds broke a 1-1 deadlock with a three-run home run in the bottom of the
seventh inning. It was Bonds' fifth home run in as many games and moved
him to within one of Albert Pujols of St. Louis for the National League lead.
The game was scoreless until the fifth when the Giants took a 1-0 lead.
San Francisco starter Sidney Ponson, making his debut with the club after being
acquired in a trade from Baltimore at the non-waiver trade deadline, helped his
own cause with a lead-off single off Pirates starter Josh Fogg. Ponson was
sacrificed to second by Ray Durham and then scored on J.T. Snow's base hit to
center.
The Pirates came up with the equalizer in the seventh. With one out, Jack
Wilson reached when shortstop Neifi Perez misplayed a pop fly in shallow left
field for an error. Jeff Reboulet flied out and Matt Stairs, called upon
to pinch hit for Fogg, lashed a triple into Death Valley in right-center
field. Wilson scored and the game was tied 1-1.
The bottom of the seventh started innocently enough as reliever Joe Beimel
retired pinch hitter Andres Galarraga and Durham. But Snow singled to
center and Marquis Grissom grounded a base hit to left, which brought Bonds to
the plate. The Pirates held a meeting at the mound and considered walking
Bonds intentionally to fill the bases, but decided to have Beimel pitch around
him instead. That was a mistake. The first pitch was off the plate
inside and low, but Bonds golfed it into the seats atop the right field wall for
a three-run home run and a 4-1 Giants lead.
San Francisco added two runs in the eighth on Jeffrey Hammonds' pinch hit RBI
double and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Grissom and brought a 6-1 advantage
into the ninth. Scott Eyre retired Randall Simon and Jose Hernandez to
open the inning but Craig Wilson walked and Humberto Cota doubled him to
third. Abraham Nunez, the third consecutive pinch hitter for Pittsburgh,
singled, scoring Wilson and advancing Cota to third. With the potential
tying run in the on deck circle, the Giants summoned closer Todd Worrell from
the bullpen and he earned his 29th save of the season by inducing a game-ending
fly out to center from Tike Redman.
The Giants started their white hot stretch with an 8-7 victory over the Colorado
Rockies on July 9. That was the opening salvo in a 12-game winning
streak. Over the 24-game span since that victory in Denver, the Giants
have gone 22-2 and outscored their opponents 158-79. During that same time
frame, Bonds has put up a .426/.625/.912 slash line with 10 home runs and 23
runs batted in.
8/6/2003, Pit03-SF03, Pacific Bell Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Pirates 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 8 0 8 1 2003 Giants 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 2 x 6 13 1 11 1 Pirates AB R H BI AVG Giants AB R H BI AVG Redman,T cf 5 0 1 0 .400 Durham 2b 3 0 1 0 .291 Kendall c 4 0 0 0 .295 Snow 1b 4 1 3 1 .299 Giles,B lf 3 0 1 0 .319 Grissom cf 4 1 2 1 .297 Sanders,R rf 4 0 1 0 .313 Bonds lf 3 1 1 3 .368 Simon 1b 4 0 0 0 .225 Eyre p 0 0 0 0 .000 Hernandez,J 3b 4 0 1 0 .258 Worrell p 0 0 0 0 .000 Wilson,J ss 3 1 0 0 .232 Santiago,B c 5 0 1 0 .269 Wilson,C ph 0 1 0 0 .270 Alfonzo 3b 2 0 1 0 .265 Reboulet 2b 3 0 0 0 .248 Cruz,Jo rf 4 0 1 0 .274 Cota ph 1 0 1 0 .200 Perez,N ss 4 1 1 0 .211 Fogg p 2 0 1 0 .154 Ponson p 2 1 1 0 .125 Stairs ph 1 0 1 1 .319 Galarraga ph 1 0 0 0 .297 Beimel p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Nathan p 0 0 0 0 .000 Corey p 0 0 0 0 .000 Hammonds ph 1 1 1 1 .240 Tavarez p 0 0 0 0 .000 33 6 13 6 Nunez,A ph 1 0 1 1 .272 35 2 8 2 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Fogg 6.0 7 1 1 3 3 92 56 7.19 Beimel L 2-3 0.2 3 3 3 0 0 23 17 7.85 Corey 0.2 3 2 2 1 1 27 16 54.00 Tavarez 0.2 0 0 0 2 1 19 9 2.97 8.0 13 6 6 6 5 161 98 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Ponson W 10-8 7.0 6 1 0 0 4 108 76 3.13 Nathan H 20 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 9 2 2.93 Eyre 0.2 2 1 1 1 0 21 11 4.96 Worrell S 29 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 2.95 9.0 8 2 1 2 4 142 91 Pit: Stairs batted for Fogg in the 7th Wilson,C batted for Wilson,J in the 9th Cota batted for Reboulet in the 9th Nunez,A batted for Tavarez in the 9th SF : Galarraga batted for Ponson in the 7th Hammonds batted for Nathan in the 8th Hammonds moved to lf in the 9th E-Perez,N. 2B-Sanders,R(24), Hernandez,J(17), Cota(1), Hammonds(5). 3B-Stairs(2), Perez,N(3). HR-Bonds(32). RBI-Stairs(31), Nunez,A(20), Snow(45), Grissom(74), Bonds 3(70), Hammonds(7). SB-Durham(8), Alfonzo(4). K-Kendall, Sanders,R, Wilson,J, Fogg, Santiago,B 3, Cruz,Jo, Ponson. BB-Giles,B, Wilson,C, Durham, Snow, Bonds 2, Alfonzo 2. SH-Durham. SF-Grissom. GWRBI: Bonds Temperature: 79, Sky: clear, Wind: out to center at 15 MPH. Attendance: 41,183 Game Time: 3:05