|
|
|
|
|
Giants lose second straight to Braves
By Jeremy Harness August 30, 2006 |
||
|
|
|||
|
It’s amazing that the Giants, as badly as things have gone for them this season, are still in the thick of things in the National League West as well as the league’s wild-card race. They implied that they belonged in there with practically half of the league when they took two of three games from the power-crazy Cincinnati Reds last weekend. For the last two games against the Atlanta Braves, however, the Giants have regressed into the team that fans have been frustrated with for much of this year. After a slugfest of a game on Tuesday, which saw Barry Bonds hit two home runs but still lose, the Giants dropped Wednesday’s game as well, 7-5, at Turner Field Wednesday. The two teams traded runs for the first four innings, as they were tied 2-2 at the end of the fourth. However, Atlanta broke out in the sixth with a three-run inning off starter Brad Hennessey. After two men reached base via singles, Adam LaRoche’s triple brought in a pair of runs. The next batter, Ryan Langerhans, sneaked a bunt single on reliever Jack Taschner, scoring LaRoche and giving the Braves a 7-4 lead. LaRoche, meanwhile, went 4-for-4 with three RBI on Wednesday. In the ninth, catcher Eliezer Alfonzo gave the Giants a sliver of hope when he launched a solo homer off Atlanta reliever Bob Wickman to lead off the inning. But only one more Giant would reach base the rest of the way, and the Braves assured themselves the series win over the Giants in Turner Field, where the Giants always seem to have problems winning. Omar Vizquel had three hits for the Giants, while Steve Finley went 2-for-5 and scored two runs. Shea Hillenbrand knocked in two runs, both of them courtesy of sacrifice flies. As it stands now, the Giants are three games behind the Padres in the wild-card race, and they are six games behind the front-running Dodgers in the division race. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||