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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Another mighty homer from Barry Bonds was
no match for the Cincinnati Reds' mix of timely singles and
unlikely power hitters.
|  | | Barry Bonds hits his 10th homer of the season, but it's not enough to lift the Giants. |
Bonds hit his 504th career home run in a losing cause as the
Reds got back-to-back eighth-inning homers from Ruben Rivera and
Kelly Stinnett to beat the San Francisco Giants 7-5 Thursday and
secure a series sweep.
Bonds' two-run homer in the eighth off reliever Scott Sullivan
was his ninth in his last 12 starts. It moved him into a tie with
Eddie Murray for 16th place on baseball's career list, but couldn't
prevent the Giants from being swept at home in a three-game series
for the first time in over a year.
Rivera and Stinnett, who combined for one home run coming in,
hit consecutive first-pitch homers off reliever Aaron Fultz. The
Reds scored 23 runs and got 43 hits in their sweep at Pacific Bell
Park.
"We were just glad there was only one runner on when Barry came
up," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "It took a while today, but we
got the hits we needed and hung in there. We're starting to look
like a pretty good hitting team."
A day after beating the Giants with a barrage of RBI singles,
the Reds again took the lead with a series of run-scoring hits,
this time from Michael Tucker, Dmitri Young and Alex Ochoa, whose
two-run single in the seventh gave Cincinnati the lead for good.
"If any pitcher keeps us close enough, we're going to get the
hits we need," said Pete Harnisch, who pitched five innings and
trailed 3-0 when he left. "They're not pretty hits, but we'll get
the runs. We'll get a bunch of singles that we can string
together."
The Reds, 1-5 at Pac Bell last season, extended their road
winning streak to seven games and swept the Giants in San Francisco
for the first time since May 3-5, 1996.
Giants starter Russ Ortiz pitched strongly into the sixth
inning, when he lost his shutout by allowing three straight hits
before striking out pinch-hitter Ken Griffey Jr. to escape a
bases-loaded jam.
But Ortiz, looking to join Cincinnati's Osvaldo Fernandez as the
NL's only four-game winners, got into trouble again in the seventh.
Alan Embree (0-1) allowed three more hits and three runs as the
Reds rallied with a singles and two timely homers.
"You could see they had a good game plan," the Giants' J.T.
Snow said. "Every pitcher that went in for us, they had a good
idea what they were going to see. They must have had good scouting
reports.
"It's not surprising we got swept playing the way we did. They
beat us up pretty good."
Dennys Reyes (1-2) threw 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the win,
and Danny Graves pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight
chances.
Rich Aurilia improved his average to an NL-best .413 by getting
four hits for the second straight day. The Giants, who lost three
straight at Pac Bell for the first time in over a year, hadn't been
swept in a three- or four-game home series since losing the first
six games at their new park last April.
"It's not so much frustration – it's probably depression when
guys know they should be playing better and they're not," said NL
MVP Jeff Kent, who got three hits to raise his average to .234.
"We're still trying to get a rhythm. That's been our big problem.
We haven't been able to get a good rhythm going."
San Francisco fell out of first place in the NL West and dropped
to 4-5 on its 12-game homestand, which ends with a weekend series
against the Cubs.
The Giants got three runs in the second. Marvin Benard, hitting
.136 at the start of the game, had a two-run double, and Bonds
followed with an RBI double.
Game notes
Griffey has a torn left hamstring and has been limited to
pinch-hitting duty this season. He wants to return to the everyday
lineup but hasn't been cleared to play in the field, He's 0-for-10
with three walks this year. ... Both starting pitchers got hits.
... Before the game, San Francisco put utility INF and top PH
Felipe Crespo on the disabled list with a torn tendon in his right
foot. The Giants recalled utility INF Edwards Guzman from Triple-A
Fresno to take Crespo's place. Guzman arrived in San Francisco
midway through the game and pinch-hit in the seventh, grounding
into an inning-ending double play.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
San Francisco Clubhouse
RECAPS
Kansas City 6
Tampa Bay 0
Detroit 8
Baltimore 2
Boston 2
Minnesota 0
Cleveland 6
Anaheim 5
Seattle 7
NY Yankees 3
Oakland 16
Chi. White Sox 6
Montreal 4
St. Louis 3
Milwaukee 12
NY Mets 8
Chicago Cubs 7
Colorado 2
Cincinnati 7
San Francisco 5
San Diego 11
Philadelphia 0
Arizona 13
Atlanta 6
Los Angeles 6
Pittsburgh 3
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