[ MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Francisco pitcher Jerome Williams, right, talked with pitching coach Dave Righetti, left, and catcher Yorvit Torrealba after Arizona scored its second run in the fourth inning last night.
Williams gets
no-decision in
San Francisco’s winThe Giants win their fifth straight
as the Waipahu alum does not win
for the first time in six starts
SAN FRANCISCO >> Way back in spring training, Rich Aurilia alerted manager Felipe Alou to the fact he's a second-half hitter.
Aurilia can't remember it, but Alou can. And the San Francisco shortstop is making true on the statement.
Aurilia and Yorvit Torrealba each drove in two runs during a sixth-inning rally and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 last night for their fifth straight win.
The NL West-leading Giants moved eight games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the division race by taking the opener of this important four-game series. San Francisco has won 10 of its last 13 games and is undefeated so far on this 11-game homestand to start the second half.
"It's not enough," Alou said of the eight-game lead. "I wish it was the last week of September. It's July. There's a long ways to go."
San Francisco rookie Jerome Williams, a Waipahu High School alumnus, did not win for the first time in six starts, but he still has a five-start winning streak. He gave up four runs -- three earned -- and four hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking four.
Chad Zerbe (1-1) got the final out in the sixth for the win.
Tim Worrell, pitching in his 200th game as a Giant, worked the ninth for his 22nd save in 26 opportunities.
Williams, making his 10th major league start, did not allow a hit until Luis Gonzalez's double to the wall in right in the fourth. He pitched the Giants to an 8-1 win over Arizona and Curt Schilling on July 12, Williams' last start before the All-Star break.
"The guys made some pretty good adjustments to Williams," Arizona manager Bob Brenly said. "He had us baffled at Bank One, so I was glad to see that tonight. It's obvious that this series is more important to us. They're in the cat-bird seat and we're scratching and clawing to get back in it."
Aurilia is batting .556 (10-for-18) with nine RBIs in his five games since the All-Star break after hitting .256 in the first half.
"I wish I'd told him I'm a whole-year player because maybe I would have done better in the first half," Aurilia said. "I'm thinking about going up to the plate and being productive and helping this team in the second half. I didn't produce in the first half. I cleared my head and I'm starting to feel like myself again."
The Diamondbacks couldn't hold a three-run lead on the way to their third straight defeat.
With the Giants trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Elmer Dessens (5-7) provided an opportunity for San Francisco when he loaded the bases with one out. He allowed a single to J.T. Snow and then a double to Marquis Grissom before intentionally walking slugger Barry Bonds.
Jose Cruz Jr. struck out on a full count, then Aurilia hit a two-run single to center and Torrealba singled two batters later to bring in two more runs as the Giants took a 5-4 lead. The Giants batted through their order in the inning.
Torrealba, starting at catcher in place of injured regular Benito Santiago, also drove in his team's first run in the fifth on a groundout.
Aurilia is a career .375 hitter (6-for-16) against Dessens.
Steve Finley had two hits and an RBI for Arizona, which lost its final two games in San Diego over the weekend. The Diamondbacks are 0-3 at Pacific Bell Park this year and 2-7 against San Francisco.
The Diamondbacks took a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Matt Kata walked and came around to score on a fielding error by third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo. Shea Hillenbrand was credited with an RBI on the play. Gonzalez came home on Finley's run-scoring single.
The Diamondbacks added two runs in the sixth, including an unearned run on Williams' fielding error.
Dessens started out strong, including striking out the side in the second, and held the Giants hitless through four. He allowed a one-out single to Aurilia in the fifth and then a single to Alfonzo, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Dessens was tagged for five runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked four.
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Giants 5, Diamondbacks 4
Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Counsell ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 .264 Kata 2b 4 1 0 0 1 1 .304 LGonzalez lf 4 1 2 0 1 0 .311 Hillenbrand 3b 5 1 1 1 0 0 .343 SFinley cf 4 1 2 1 0 0 .318 Moeller c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .296 McCracken rf 4 0 1 1 0 2 .233 Overbay 1b 1 0 0 0 2 1 .273 b-Spivey ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .259 Grace 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .209 Dessens p 2 0 0 1 0 0 .194 Villarreal p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 MMyers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- c-Baerga ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .323 Valverde p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Totals 34 4 7 4 4 7 San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Durham 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .295 Snow 1b 2 1 1 0 2 0 .272 Grissom cf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .310 Bonds lf 3 1 0 0 1 1 .325 JoCruz rf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .265 Aurilia ss 4 2 2 2 0 1 .272 Alfonzo 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .245 Worrell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Torrealba c 3 0 1 3 0 0 .244 JeWilliams p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .067 Zerbe p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-NPerez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .278 Christiansen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- Eyre p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Feliz 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .220 Totals 30 5 7 5 4 7
Arizona 000 202 000 -- 4 7 0 San Francisco 000 014 00x -- 5 7 2
a-popped out for Zerbe in the 6th. b-singled for Overbay in the 8th. c-grounded out for Myers in the 8th.
E--Alfonzo (8), JeWilliams (2). LOB--Arizona 9, San Francisco 5. 2B--LGonzalez (34), Grissom (21). RBIs--Hillenbrand (25), SFinley (54), McCracken (17), Dessens (2), Aurilia 2 (40), Torrealba 3 (21). SB--SFinley (8). S--Moeller, Dessens. GIDP--Grissom.
Runners left in scoring position--Arizona 5 (Counsell 2, Dessens 2, Baerga); San Francisco 2 (JeWilliams, NPerez).
Runners moved up--McCracken, Torrealba.
DP--Arizona 1 (Counsell and Overbay).
Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Dessens L, 5-7 5 2/3 5 5 5 4 6 108 5.26 Villarreal BS, 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 16 2.62 MMyers 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 2 5.47 Valverde 1 0 0 0 0 1 12 0.90 San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA JeWilliams 5 2/3 4 4 3 4 6 85 2.83 Zerbe W, 1-1 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 3 4.42 Christiansen H, 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 3.29 Eyre H, 13 1 2 0 0 0 1 15 3.43 Worrell S, 22 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 1.95
Inherited runners-scored--Villarreal 3-2, MMyers 1-0, Zerbe 2-0.
IBB--off Dessens (Bonds) 1, off JeWilliams (Overbay) 2.
Umpires--Home, Terry Craft; First, Charlie Reliford; Second, Jay Klemm; Third, Fieldin Culbreth.
T--2:50. A--41,421 (41,503).
