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Bonds, Giants use huge first inning to beat Brewers

Aug 26, 2007 - 5:22 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- It was not a grand slam that put the San Francisco Giants ahead against the Milwaukee Brewers, but five straight hits in a four-run first inning were just as effective.

Barry Bonds had two hits and drove in a pair of runs and Kevin Correia was solid in a spot start as the Giants posted a 6-2 victory over the Brewers on Saturday.

Johnny Estrada had two hits for the Brewers (65-64), who remained 1 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs (66-62) in the National League Central Division.

The Giants, who have won 11 of 13, jumped all over rookie starter Yovani Gallardo (5-4) from the outset.

Dave Roberts drew a leadoff walk and Randy Winn had a one-out single. Bonds then delivered an RBI single for the game's first run, and Ryan Klesko, Bengie Molina and Pedro Feliz all followed with run-scoring singles for a 4-0 lead.

"We were aggressive," Winn said. "Dave Roberts got on base and made things happen at the top of the lineup. Barry got an early RBI for us, got us rolling and we were just able to get some baserunners and take advantage of having runners in scoring position and getting big hits when we needed to."

San Francisco expanded the lead in the third. Bonds walked to lead off the inning, Klesko walked and Molina singled to left-center to load the bases. Kevin Frandsen's sacrifice fly scored Bonds for a 5-0 advantage.

"We're not a home run-hitting team and we're not going to bang the ball all around the yard, but I think we've got guys that make good contact and guys that can hit in different situations," Winn said. "The last two nights, we've just been getting hits with guys in scoring position."

In his second start of the season, Correia (2-6) pitched 5 2/3 solid innings, giving up five hits and two runs with five strikeouts to win his first game as a starter since April 15, 2005 at Cincinnati.

"I could remember my last two starts before that, but I knew I didn't win them, so I didn't know when my last win was before that," Correia said. "It feels good and it's what you want to do when you go out there, just give your team a chance to win, and I think we did that tonight. We got some runs early, which definitely takes some pressure off you, so it's a pretty good night."

"You can't say enough about the job he's done," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I think he wants to make a statement. It's great to see guys when they get the opportunity. They try to make the best of it, and he certainly is."

Meanwhile, Gallardo was shelled for five runs in just three innings and has lost for the third time in his last four decisions. The righthander added to the Brewers' pitching struggles as the staff ERA rose to 6.46 ERA in August.

"We're just going to go out there and the starting pitchers just to get as far in the game as far as possible," Gallardo said. "Let's go from there and we can only control what we do, and that's something we're going to try to do."

"It's really unfair to put so much emphasis on it, but starting pitching is key," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "If we get good starting pitching, we're going to play a good game, and if we don't, we're going to look the we've looked the last couple of nights."

Manny Parra started the fourth inning and gave up three straight hits, including the second RBI single to Bonds, to make it 6-0.

Corey Hart and Joe Dillon accounted for the only Milwaukee runs with RBI singles in the sixth.

"I know everyone's going through a tough time here and there, but we keep seeing signs of it turning around," Parra said. "The good thing is, we still have another month and we're going to play Chicago right after this, so we can actually turn it around against them, and that'll make a big difference."