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		Giants lose fourth straight despite Alfonzo’s 2 home runs By Jeremy Harness July 27, 2006
	San Francisco Giants' Eliezer Alfonzo gestures after his two-run home run against the Washington Nationals during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 27, 2006 in Washington. Alfonzo hit two home runs despite the Giants losing 6-5. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
	If losing to the Washington Nationals, 8-6, for the third straight day - and their fourth straight loss - wasn’t bad enough, the San Francisco Giants lost to a pitcher whom they were itching to get rid of - and finally did - three years ago, and he’s still out to haunt the Giants. Livan Hernandez, who had the victory for the Nationals on Thursday, after pitching seven innings and giving up only three runs on six hits, spent four seasons with the Giants and started the seventh game of the 2002 World Series, at which point the Giants were more than happy to move him out of San Francisco. Alfonso Soriano, who could be playing for a new team as early as this weekend, kicked off the scoring with a leadoff solo homer in the first inning off Giants starter Matt Cain. The Giants came right back to tie it when Eliezer Alfonzo launched a solo shot of his own in the top of the third. The rookie catcher, who had a total of four RBI, would add a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to narrow Washington’s lead to two runs, but the Giants couldn’t get anything else going. Cain, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as good as he was in his last outing, when he blanked the Padres for eight innings before picking up his seventh victory. He went only 6 2/3 innings on Thursday while the Nationals had six runs and five hits off of Cain. After getting swept out of Washington, the Giants will get a chance at quick payback. After they finish playing a three-game weekend series in Pittsburgh, they will see these very same Nationals - and quite possibly without Soriano - at AT&T Park for a three-gamer that starts Monday night. The Giants also got a break from the Colorado Rockies, who rallied to beat the San Diego Padres on Thursday night to keep the Giants within three games of the lead in the National League West. Meanwhile, Arizona fell to the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2, and they currently stand in second place. The Diamondbacks are 2 ½ games back of San Diego.