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Eight is enough, Giants end skid, split twinbill
By Joe Cronin and Ken Gimblin June 5, 2005 |
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The streak finally came to a halt. The San Francisco Giants split a double dip Sunday at Shea Stadium, beating the New York Mets 6-3 and ending an eight-game losing streak by winning the opener. Giants starter Brett Tomko (5-7) ended up helping his own cause in the first game with a three-run double against Mets starter Kazuhisa Ishii (1-4). First baseman Lance Niekro had a day with a homer among three hits to his credit, Deivi Cruz collected three of his own hits, and Marquis Grissom got a welcome back to duty after being out since May 17, coming off the DL with an RBI single for the go-ahead run. The Giants never looked back after that and the victory marked an end to their longest skid since May of 2000. Ishii nearly outdid Tomko in the hitting department, picking up his second two-hit game. He is now 5-for-13 on the season and hitting .385. In the nightcap, San Francisco was not as fortunate as the Mets let them know who the home team was with an 11-run victory, 12-1. Giants ace Jason Schmidt received a drubbing, lasting four innings, surrendering six runs, and walking four batters, including counterpart Kris Benson, who walked with the bases filled. Schmidt fell to 3-2 on the season and Benson improved to 4-2. The Mets had home run help from David Wright in the second inning off Schmidt for his ninth blast of the year, Cliff Floyd belted his second homer of the season off reliever Jim Brower in the fifth inning, and Victor Diaz smashed his fifth homer, also off Brower in the fifth inning. JC and Kenny G's footnotes: The Giants are relieved to be ending this six-game road trip Sunday which saw only one victory, a fine outing from Tomko. The first game of the doubleheader was a make-up game from last Friday's rainout. The Giants open a six-game interleague homestand starting Tuesday with the Kansas City Royals, who have one of the worst records in baseball, before Cleveland comes in on Friday night. The Royals come to SBC Park in last place in the AL Central with a record of 17-38. If the Giants can't hold up their end as the home team in this series, they'll definitely hear it from the crowd. The Giants come into this series in fourth place in the NL West at 24-31. The Royals will start D.J. Carrasco (1-1, 3.04 ERA) against Giants left-hander Kirk Rueter (2-3, 4.27. Rueter hasn't won since May 13, a 4-2 effort against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Field. Rueter has lost three straight games since then. Tuesday and Friday will mark the first time the Giants have faced the Royals or the Indians in a regular-season game in franchise history. The Giants did face the Indians in the 1954 World Series. The Giants did face the Indians in Cactus League action for years until Cleveland moved their spring-training camp to Florida in the Grapefruit League in the late 90s. Joe Cronin and Ken Gimblin cover the Giants for all home and away games every Sunday and co host Sportstalk on 1430 KVVN San Jose and 1110 KLIB Sacramento. |
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