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Lewis' grand slam propels Giants past Reds

Jul 4, 2007 - 10:24 PM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Barry Bonds had a good seat to watch Fred Lewis' heroics.

Playing in place of Bonds, Lewis' grand slam in the five-run fourth inning enabled the San Francisco Giants to defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-5, on Wednesday.

Lewis certainly makes the most of his blasts, as two of his three home runs this season have been grand slams. Lewis hit a grand slam off Philadelphia's Adam Eaton on June 1 and his other homer came as part of a cycle that he turned in on May 13 at Colorado.

"The trainer was telling me on the bench, come on Barry," Lewis said. "I thought I am Barry today, I'm in left field."

Bonds greeted Lewis after the blast and said, "You only swing the bat on holidays."

"I'm speechless right now," Lewis said. "Every time I get in a game, I try to show what I can do."

Since returning from the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, Lewis is 5-for-9 with four runs scored.

Bonds, who was selected to participate in next week's All-Star Game, traditionally has been left out of the lineup for afternoon contests that follow night games.

On Tuesday night, the seven-time National League Most Valuable Player hit career home run No. 751 and remains five shy of breaking Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755.

Randy Winn started the five-run frame by plating Dave Roberts with an RBI single for the Giants, who won for the first time in eight tries on the road.

Back-to-back home runs by Ray Durham and former Red Rich Aurilia in the sixth and a two-run ninth, highlighted by a pinch-hit home run by Mark Sweeney, salted the game away.

Giants starter Matt Cain (3-9) overcame a shaky start but managed to settle down, allowing four runs on nine hits with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

"They ambushed me in the third," Cain said. "They took advantage of me trying to get the first-pitch strike. They hit pitches they don't usually put in play so we decided not to change anything and hope things would turn our way."

They did on Lewis at bat that followed an infield hit by Aurilia.

"When I saw Rich beat out the grounder with two outs, I knew things were going to turn our way, and sure enough Freddie did it," Cain said.

The 22-year-old was buoyed by the Giants' run-support, which has been lacking in his last few outings. Before Wednesday's game, the second-year righthander was 0-6 while his offense managed only 12 runs of support in 53 innings since his last win on May 13.

"We were trying hard to get Cainer some runs," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "Matt got into some tough jams but battled through them."

Cain's last out was an 11-pitch strikeout of Brandon Phillips before Bochy looked to Steve Kline to get Ken Griffey Jr.

"It was a battle. He went through my pitch count a couple of times," Cain said.

"He was done after that," Bochy said. "Kline battled Griffey who put up a good at-bat. He just got under it. He was the tying run at time and Kline got him. The bullpen did a great job."

Two relievers bridged the gap before Jack Taschner closed it out for the Giants.

While Cain was able to taste victory, Reds starter Matt Belisle continued to struggle. Belisle (5-6), who allowed five runs on six hits in four innings on Wednesday, has not won since May 29.

"I felt very much in control," Belisle said. "I felt very confident about him not getting the fat part of his bat on it, but he pulled his hands in.

Cincinnati drew first blood in second on Juan Castro's RBI single and pushed its advantage to 3-0 after Ken Griffey Jr., who is headed to the All-Star Game, singled home two runs in the third.