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Six-run first powers Giants to rout of Mets

Jun 3, 2008 - 7:11 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Randy Winn and Brian Horwitz each homered during a six-run first inning Monday, sending the San Francisco Giants to a 10-2 victory over the New York Mets.

Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez (4-3) overcame a rocky first inning and yielded two runs and six hits over seven innings, striking out eight.

Ray Durham went 3-for-4 with three RBI and Bengie Molina added three hits, including the 1,000 of his career.

"It means a lot for me, believe it," Molina said. "I'm not a superstar. I'm not a Hall of Famer, but for a guy that signed for only $1,000 dollars - $750 after taxes - it's an honor for me. No scout from Puerto Rico gave me a chance. I just wanted a shot. So to have 1,000 hits, it means a lot to me."

The Giants began the rout with Winn's first leadoff home run of the season.

Aaron Rowand, who has the fourth-best average in the National League at .344, followed with a one-out double to left and scored on a single to left-center by Molina - his 1,000th career hit.

That was only the start. After Rich Aurilia drew a walk to put runners on first and second, Durham drove a ball to left-center for a two-run double.

Horwitz, who recorded his first major league hit Sunday, added to his resume with his first career home run and RBI on a two-run shot over the fence in left-center, giving the Giants a 6-0 lead.

"I just put my head down and ran because I know this is not a home run park and I don't have the biggest power of anybody and, luckily, it went out," said Horwitz, who traded an autographed bat in exchange for the home run ball.

"(The ball) is going home in the vault with my first hit. Unbelievable, it's extraordinary, surreal; it's an out-of-body experience. I'm really enjoying being here, how could you complain? It's great that we're winning as well."

Mets starter Oliver Perez (4-4) then walked Emmanuel Burriss, prompting Mets manager Willie Randolph to summon Claudio Vargas from the bullpen.

"Oliver had a horrible night, didn't throw the ball well and couldn't get out of the inning," Randolph said. "He needs to make adjustments in that situation and just minimize the damage and he's had a couple of those starts where it seems like he just gets frustrated with himself, but you cannot allow that to happen.

"You've got to keep us in the ballgame and, tonight, he didn't do a good job of that. It was a terrible, terrible outing."

The lefthander suffered the worst outing of his career, lasting only one-third of an inning, allowing six runs and five hits while watching his ERA balloon from 4.83 to 5.70.

"It's just one of those days, you want to forget it," Perez said. "You don't want to get frustrated and I'm trying to forget about this game. That's the worst game of my career and you can't do anything about it. I'm just trying to focus for the next game because that's important and it was just a tough loss."

The offensive support was more than enough for Sanchez, who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning in winning his second straight decision.

"I'm throwing my sinker for a strike and fastballs," Sanchez said. "I just focus on throwing strikes. If I throw strikes early, they're going to swing at it and I get quick outs. ... I want to go seven or eight innings but I had already thrown 110 pitches, so I knew I was going to come out after the seventh."

Despite their dismal effort on Monday, the Mets made some positive history. Following a double by Carlos Delgado to lead off the second inning, Jose Reyes drove him in with an RBI double and, in doing so, he tied Darryl Strawberry's franchise record by reaching base for the 33rd consecutive game.

In the fourth inning, the Mets scored their only other run. Juan Castro walked, was sacrificed to second and scored on a single to center by Luis Castillo.

However, Sanchez contributed to his own cause in the sixth inning with a two-run double that gave the Giants an 8-2 cushion en route to their second straight win at home after ending a seven-game skid at AT&T Park.

"We have had our struggles at home, so it's good to win two in a row, I'll say that," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "That's great for a ballclub and something you can build on. And they came out tonight and scored six. Now tomorrow, we've got to go out and do the same thing."

San Francisco concluded the scoring binge in the seventh as Durham drew a bases-loaded walk and Horwitz plated a run on a sacrifice fly.