Homer-happy Giants top D-Backs
08/08/2006 2:37 AM ET
Homer-happy Giants top D-Backs
SF gets six long balls, including two from Feliz, one for Schmidt
By Rich Draper / MLB.com
Pedro Feliz, who homered twice earlier in the game, draws a walk in the eighth
. (Roy Dabner/AP)
PHOENIX -- Thunderstorms are frequent in the summer here, with dazzling light
shows and electricity dancing in the air, but the booms emanating from Chase
Field on Monday night were strictly man-made.
By Giants, no less.
What a way to start a road trip for struggling San Francisco, as the club
socked six homers -- including a surprising solo shot by winning pitcher Jason
Schmidt (9-7) and a pair of blasts by Pedro Feliz -- in an 8-4 victory over
the Arizona Diamondbacks.
For the Giants, it was their second straight victory and third win in the last
five games, a huge turnaround following a dreadful nine-game losing streak
that put them in the National League West basement.
But maybe now they can see light peeking through the cellar door as they
prepare for nine more games on this perilous journey through the division.
"We can even do better than that," said Feliz of the balls rocketing into the
stands. The third sacker awakened his slumbering offense -- .147 over his last
14 games -- with his two homers that highlighted San Francisco's 12-hit
attack, the second consecutive dozen-hit contest.
"Today was a good night for us and we looked much better in there," he said.
"It was fun and everybody was happy because we were winning. It's good to see
everybody that way. I don't know why we hit well here -- maybe we're lucky."
The barrage of homers helped Schmidt overcome an early three-run deficit and
snapped a seven-game road losing streak for the Giants, buoying the spirits in
the clubhouse on a fry-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk, 100 degree-plus day in the
Valley of the Sun.
"Definitely a good time to get hot?" Feliz was asked.
"It's hot here in Arizona," he quipped. "We win the last game at home and win
here, I think it'll give us more energy. It's different when you're winning
than when you lose, so we've just got to keep it going."
Speaking of winning, Schmidt's amazing streak against the Diamondbacks just
keeps rolling along like a desert tumbleweed, no barbed-wire fence in sight to
stop it.
The right-hander is 11-0 with a 2.61 ERA over his last 15 starts vs. Arizona
dating back to May 21, 2003, although he's had his statistical troubles this
season, often due to lack of run support, the veteran receiving the second-
lowest support among NL hurlers at 3.94 runs per game.
So what does Schmidt do Monday? Slam his first homer of the season to start
the seventh inning. It was, in the end, a good game for Schmidt, even if he
hit three batters, a rarity for the 33-year-old pitcher.
"My last six ABs, I was wondering if I'd ever make contact with the ball again
," said Schmidt. "I was swinging and the ball would disappear every time. [On
the homer] the ball just hit my bat, no doubt about it. Every time I get a hit
it's lucky, but I'll definitely take it.
On the hit batters, an unusual event.
"It sure was," said Schmidt, who plunked leadoff batter Eric Byrnes in the
first, then Conor Jackson in the fifth and seven frames. "I don't know what
was going on there. Everything kept sailing on me -- sailing, sailing, sailing
. I threw a curveball to the last guy and must have tried to throw the
greatest curveball of my life -- went against everything I've been taught --
and it flipped off the top of my hand."
Still, the Force is always with Schmidt at Chase Field. Always has been, even
though he admits every game here is a struggle. Monday's was at the start,
with the D-Backs getting two RBIs hit by Chad Tracy and a Luis Gonzalez run-
producing double to give the hosts a 3-1 lead that they held through four
innings.
The Giants narrowed the gap to 3-2 when Feliz hit his first homer off Arizona
starter Enrique Gonzalez in the fifth, then broke it open with a four-run
sixth, featuring Moises Alou's mammoth, 418-foot, two-run homer plus Ray
Durham's blast and another blow by Feliz off losing pitcher Jeff Bajenaru
(0-1).
"They give me a battle every time," said Schmidt of the Diamondbacks. "The
biggest factor for me is we swing the bats really well here. We've had some
horrendous games here and come back and tied it and win despite what I've done
."
Rich Draper is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
--
誠泰COBRAS是王道!!!
17李明進 34楊騏嘉 11林恩宇 15蔡士勤 18許竹見 42陳家鴻 43張賢智 35楊睿智
12郭銘仁 28王傳家 55謝佳賢 25丘昌榮 13鄧蒔陽 65吳昭輝 85周思齊 3施翔凱
53陳克帆 1黃高俊 24莊景賀 5黃仕豪 33陳致鵬 22翁再生 2賈西亞 29費南德茲
69塔尼 67吳復連
COBRAS COBRAS YA YA YA!
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 218.164.240.120
SFGiants 近期熱門文章
PTT體育區 即時熱門文章
