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Dare we say…rebuild?
By Stefani Rebekah Black September 25, 2006 |
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SAN FRANCISCO- San Francisco Giant starting pitcher Jason Schmidt’s fastballs and change-ups couldn’t keep the Arizona Diamondback heat off his team as the D-Backs beat the Giants 7-1. The Diamondbacks beat Schmidt (11-9) for the first time in his 17 starts against them since a loss on Sept. 5, 2002. He retired the first 10 batters before Eric Byrnes’ 24th home run of the year. The Giants unable to recover after suffering a four-game sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers ran out of options losing 10 of their last 11 outings. Teams have outscored San Francisco 102-64 during the last 11-contest stretch. Without consistent power at the plate as well as a dependable pitching staff the Giants goals for a post-season in 2006 are out of reach. San Francisco and Arizona are all but eliminated from the NL West playoff race. “You have got to play for the fans,” said Giants’ OF Moises Alou. Giant IF Ray Durham homered (26) on a line drive to right field for the team’s first score of the game. With the Giants 5 hits, that was the only run allowed by Diamondback starting pitcher Edgar Gonzalez who kept the pressure at the plate. Arizona RF Eric Byrnes homered (24) on a fly ball to left field to tie the game 1-1 in the top of the 4th inning and sparked a litany of hits during the 4th including another D-Back homerun by Conor Jackson bringing home Chad Tracy and Luis Gonzalez. In the top of the 9th the shoot out continued while the Diamondbacks scored three more runs to close out the game. Bonds went 0-4 with four fly-outs, possibly entering his last week with San Francisco baseball. The 42-year-old slugger has 734 home runs, 21 from tying home run king Hank Aaron's record 755. The Giants have 11 free agents including Barry Bonds. Things will change in San Francisco in 2007 whether they believe it or not. “It would be hard for a city this large to say we’re going to rebuild. That would be embarrassing. I’ve never seen it,” said Bonds in a pre-game interview. |
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