Sports Radio Service


		Giants’ bullpen coughs it up again in 6-3 loss to Reds By Jeremy Harness August 24, 2006
	San Francisco Giants' Pedro Feliz, right, is congratulated by teammate Ray Durham (5) after hitting a two-run home run off Cincinnati Reds' Eric Milton in the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
	The San Francisco Giants couldn’t make an early 3-0 lead stand up, and the Cincinnati Reds came roaring back to take the first game of a four-game series, by the score of 6-3, Thursday night at AT&T Park. In the bottom of the second inning, Pedro Feliz nailed an Eric Milton pitch and sent it into the left-field seats for a two-run homer to give the Giants a three-run lead. The next batter, Steve Finley, appeared to have a bloop single into shallow right field. That is, until Reds right fielder Ryan Freel dove and made an outstanding catch to deny him. The Giants would not score another run. Meanwhile, Cincinnati started their comeback in the top of the sixth off Giants starter Brad Hennessey, as Ken Griffey, Jr. and Scott Hatteberg each reached base to lead off the inning. Edwin Encarnacion singled in Hatteberg, and then a wild pitch brought Griffey in to cut the lead to 3-2. Kevin Correia came in to prevent any more damage, but even he was not out of the woods. The next inning, Encarnacion sliced one down the right-field line to bring in Griffey and tie the game. Vinnie Chulk, who has been very good in the past few games, pitched the eighth, and it looked like another 1-2-3 inning for him. He got former Giant Rich Aurilia to fly out and Brandon Phillips to ground out, but he laid a nice, fat pitch hanging over the plate for catcher David Ross. What Ross did was hammer it way past the left-field wall to give the Reds the lead, 4-3. The next inning did not feature Armando Benitez, so Mike Stanton played the role of the ninth-inning screw-up. After striking out the first batter, Stanton loaded the bases before giving up a single up the middle by Juan Castro, which scored two runs and pretty much sealed the game. Giants Notes: The Giants are now 11-11 in the month of August. The Reds will be in for three more games at AT&T Park with the Giants. Friday Night, San Francisco will have Matt Morris (8-11,4.67 ERA) on the mound, and Cincinnati will have ex-Oakland A’s Aaron Harang (13-8,3.72 ERA).