Let's play two...
Ernie
Giants split doubleheader with Orioles
By David Kiefer, Mercury News
BALTIMORE - At nearly 1:30 a.m. EDT today, Barry Bonds sat in the Giants' clubhouse and evaluated 23 innings and 8 hours, 16 minutes of baseball this way:
"We had chances. They had chances. By the 12th, we were all delirious."
Baltimore's Larry Bigbie mercifully lined a one-out, bases-loaded single off Giants closer Matt Herges to score Melvin Mora in the 12th inning Saturday to give the Orioles a 5-4 victory in the second game of a doubleheader at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The Giants won the opener 9-6 in 11 innings but then had to turn around with less than an hour break to play again.
After playing 17 consecutive days and heading into the final series of a two-week trip, the Giants welcomed a day off Friday courtesy of a rainout. But there were consequences: a lot of baseball Saturday and a third game in 26 hours this afternoon.
"For the first time in my life, I don't want to play baseball," said catcher Yorvit Torrealba, who caught the second game. "I admit it.
"Everybody's going to be tired. Whoever gets up tomorrow will be the one that's going to play."
Added Bonds, "They should change the time."
Second baseman Neifi Perez, who never came out, said it wasn't so bad. "I used to play doubleheaders in Colorado," he said.
The day could have ended much earlier had Giants third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo handled a routine grounder with the bases loaded and two out in the eighth inning.
The ball went in and out of his glove to allow the first run to score in a two-run Orioles inning that tied it 4-4.
"I missed it," he said. "If I knew it was going to happen, I'd catch it in my face or whatever."
Herges said the second game did not take away from the uplifting first. And Herges had a role in both.
He entered the second game with one out in the 12th and Mora on first and gave up a single to Miguel Tejada and an intentional walk to Rafael Palmeiro before facing Bigbie.
Many hours earlier, with the score 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth of the first game, the Orioles loaded the bases off Felix Rodriguez with none out and had Mora, a .360 hitter, and Tejada, a former league MVP coming up.
"It can be done," Manager Felipe Alou said to Herges.
"With the bases loaded, the pressure is on the batter," Alou said. "Always."
With the infield and outfield in, Herges got Mora to fly out to shallow right, not deep enough to score a run.
Tejada then hit a comebacker to the mound to start a home-to-first double play. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski pumped his fist and Herges was mobbed at the dugout steps. Alou was in the crowd.
"See, I told you this could be done," the manager said.
"We had that game one out there," said Palmeiro, left on the on-deck circle after hitting two home runs in the game. "I would have bet anything that we would've scored."
Two innings later, Pierzynski gave the Giants the lead by blasting a 2-0 fastball from Jorge Julio over the fence to spark a four-run Giants outburst for a 9-5 lead.
The day was full of contrasts for Bonds. He went 3 for 5 with his 675th career home run in the opener. After his first plate appearance in the second game, Bonds had been pitched to 12 consecutive times, his longest stretch without a walk this season.
That quickly changed. He tied his season high with five walks in the second game, and his four intentional walks were within one of Andre Dawson's major league record for extra innings.
sports.yahoo.com
PS
Bonds Hits No. 675; Palmeiro Passes Mantle
By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
Palmeiro says the joy over his achievement is tempered by the fact the Orioles lost a tough game. (Audio)
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles learned the hard way that it's not a good idea to pitch to Barry Bonds. After Bonds hit his 675th homer to help the San Francisco Giants to a 9-6 victory in 11 innings in first game of a day-night doubleheader Saturday, the Orioles got smart in the nightcap. Bonds received a career-high tying five walks, four intentionally, and Baltimore earned a split when Larry Bigbie singled in the winning run with two outs in the 12th for a 5-4 victory.
"It drains you," Bonds said of the five walks. "All you can do is sit there and root for your teammates. They had chances, we had chances, and by the 12th everyone was delirious."
Rafael Palmeiro hit two homers for Baltimore in the opener, moving past Mickey Mantle into 11th place on the career list.
It was only the third time in baseball history that two players with 500 homers connected in the same game. Willie Mays and Ernie Banks did it on June 17, 1970, and Mays and Hank Aaron both homered on May 8, 1971. |
