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Giants sweep three from hapless Mets | |||||||||||||
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RECAP
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- San Francisco reliever Chad Zerbe was standing near the dugout, chatting with his wife in the stands, when he heard the news. He was starting against the New York Mets. It was seven minutes until game time. Zerbe allowed two unearned runs on two hits over five innings for his first major league victory as the Giants beat the Mets 6-3 for New York's sixth straight loss. "I didn't have time to think about it. I just went down to the pen and started throwing -- then off to the mound," he said. Zerbe (1-0) was thrust into the starting role when Shawn Estes was scratched at the last minute because of trouble loosening up. "I was talking to my wife in the stands and the next thing I know the guys are yelling at me, 'Hey, you're starting!' "he said. After the game, the Giants placed Estes on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his left shoulder. "We have a long way to go and we need Shawn," manager Dusty Baker said. Rich Aurilia hit a solo home run and a two-run double as the Giants won their fourth straight for the first time since last season. Aurilia leads the National League with 53 hits and a .393 batting average. Edwards Guzman was 3-for-3 for the Giants, with his first major league home run, a double and a single. Kevin Appier (2-4) allowed six runs and seven hits over six innings, with eight strikeouts and two walks. In his last start Tuesday at Colorado, Appier went just one inning with five runs on six hits. The Giants swept the Mets in the three-game series. It was the first time the two teams had met since last year's NL divisional series, which New York won 3-1. "I'm very concerned," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said about the slump. "I want everything to be perfect. I don't like the way things are going, absolutely." The Mets went up 2-1 in the third inning on Mike Piazza's RBI groundout and a passed ball by Benito Santiago that allowed Appier to score. Guzman led off the bottom half with his first major league home run, and the Giants went ahead two outs later on Aurilia's solo shot into the left-field bleachers. Aurilia hit his two-run double off Appier in the fifth inning, then scored on Barry Bonds' double to put the Giants up 6-2. Jeff Kent gave the Giants a 1-0 lead in the second with his 200th career home run. Tsuyoshi Shinjo hit a solo homer in the ninth off Robb Nen for New York. Mets left fielder Benny Agbayani was not in the lineup after pulling a muscle in his abdomen while chasing down Kent's two-run double Saturday. Agbayani had said he might need a day off, but insisted he wouldn't need to go on the disabled list. Game notesThe Mets recalled C Jason Phillips from Double-A Binghamton. Phillips hit .268 with three home runs and 13 RBI in 28 games in Binghamton. LHP Tom Martin was placed on the 15-day DL. ... Mets OF Darryl Hamilton, who was eligible to come off the DL on Saturday, has a sore left toe and will remain out. Hamilton went on the DL with a strained neck muscle on April 27. ... Valentine turned 51 on Sunday. ... Mets INF Robin Ventura left the game because of flulike symptoms.  Send this story to a friend
| RECAPS Boston 5 Oakland 4
San Francisco 6
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