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		Giants finish off Arizona in three game sweep By Jeremy Harness August 23, 2006
	San Francisco Giants' Ray Durham, center, is greeted by teammate Steve Finley, right, after hitting a three-run homer off Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Enrique Gonzalez during the first inning of their baseball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006. San Francisco won the game, 7-6. Durham's home run helped him establish a new career high for RBIs in a season. At left is the Giants' Barry Bonds who scored on the play. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
	The Giants can thank the San Diego Padres for keeping them in the National League West race these days. Not because they were swept by the Giants in a four-game series last week, but they were able to sweep their way past the front-running Los Angeles Dodgers, a team the Giants has had tons of trouble handling this year. The Giants did take care of their own business at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks. On Wednesday afternoon, in a much-entertaining series that saw some scary moments from the bullpen (what else do you expect these days?), they finished off a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 7-6 victory. Catcher Eliezer Alfonzo has come up huge this season, and he continued that surge on Wednesday. In the seventh inning, after Pedro Feliz’s two-run double tied the game, Alfonzo launched a triple into the right-center field gap, scoring Feliz. Vinnie Chulk pitched a perfect eighth and then (gulp), Armando Benitez came in for the ninth to preserve the one-run lead. A day after giving up a run in the ninth inning and getting the hook from manager Felipe Alou, Benitez got himself a 1-2-3 inning on Wednesday and nailed down the sweep. Meanwhile, Ray Durham raised his average to .292 by hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the first that helped the Giants jump out to an early 4-1 lead. The Giants now stand four games out of the NL West lead, catapulting themselves into a tie for third place with the Diamondbacks as they head into a three-game series with the Dodgers at AT&T Park that starts Friday night.