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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
HOUSTON (AP) -- After watching his team waste an early five-run
lead and then come back to win, Dusty Baker gave credit to his
bullpen.
|  | | Barry Bonds drilled a two-run shot in the ninth -- his 45th of the season -- to send the Giants to extra-innings, where they beat the Astros. |
"That's what kept us in the game," the Giants manager said
after San Francisco beat the Houston Astros 8-7 in 10 innings
Monday night, opening an 8½-game lead over second-place Arizona in
the NL West.
Barry Bonds tied the game with a two-run homer in the ninth
inning and Bill Mueller tripled home the go-ahead run in the 10th.
San Francisco, which led 5-0 before falling behind 7-5, won for
the 10th time in 12 games and stopped Houston's six-game winning
streak.
Bonds tied the score in the ninth with his 45th homer, a drive
off Octavio Dotel, who blew a save for the fourth time in 17
chances.
Ramon Martinez singled off Mark Valdes (4-5) with one out in the
10th and, one out later, Mueller hit a pitch to right-center power
alley.
Robb Nen (4-3) pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings for the win,
getting Moises Alou to hit into an inning-ending double play with
two on in the ninth.
"I got lucky with him," Nen said. "Moises is a great hitter.
My slider was not very good. I missed with the first couple of
pitches. so I threw a fastball that cut a little bit and he pulled
it to short. He's a tough out. That lineup is tough throughout."
Jose Lima, allowed homers to Jeff Kent and J.T. Snow, raising
his total to 44, two short of the NL record Robin Roberts set with
Philadelphia in 1956. Bert Blyleven set the major league record of
50 with Minnesota in 1986.
Houston, in its first season at Enron Field, set a team record
for home attendance, drawing 35,130 to increase its season total to
2,728,739 Monday. The old mark of 2,706,017 was set in 1999.
Richard Hidalgo went 3-for-4, including his fifth homer in three
games. Hidalgo, 8-for-13 with seven RBIs in the three games,
homered in the third and appeared to hit another in the fifth, when
his drive went into the Astros' bullpen in right-center and hit the
top of a second fence in the bullpen, then bounced back on the
field.
Second base umpire Brian Gorman ruled it in play and Hidalgo
wound up with a triple.
"I didn't watch it," Hidalgo said. "The pitchers in the
bullpen told me it was a home run. The umpires have got to be
closer to the play, but it's their decision. I can't do anything
about it."
If it had counted, the home run would have made it 8-5.
"I couldn't see it but from what everybody told me, it wasn't
very close," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "We had every
chance in the world to win the game after that, but if he had made
the right call, we would have won."
Houston got home runs from Hidalgo, Jeff Bagwell and Alou,
increasing its total to 226, tying Toronto for the major league
lead. Alou became the first batter to hit the train high above left
field.
Lima gave up five runs, seven hits and a career-high six walks
in 6 2/3 innings.
Joe Nathan, in his first start since July 13, gave up six runs
and five hits -- three of them homers -- in 2 1/3 innings. He was on
the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation from July
14-Aug. 18 and had made four appearances since then, all in relief.
Kent hit a three-run homer in the first, raising his total to a
career-high 32, and Snow followed with a solo shot. It was the
third time this season the Giants hit consecutive homers.
The Giants have 206 homers, the most they have hit in a season
since moving from New York to San Francisco after the 1957 season.
They hit 205 in 1987.
Kent's RBI single made it 5-0 in the second, but Hidalgo started
Houston's comeback in the bottom half with his 38th homer.
Lima, just 8-for-53 at the plate coming in, doubled leading off
the six-run third and scored on a triple by Julio Lugo, who came
around when catcher Doug Mirabelli's pickoff attempt when the ball
went down the left field line for an error.
Bagwell followed with his 42nd homer, making it 5-4, and Alou
hit a two-run homer for a 6-5 lead.
Miguel Del Toro relieved and walked Hidalgo, then gave up an RBI
double to Raul Chavez.
Game notes
On Friday night, the Giants led in the sixth 7-1 before
losing 10-7. ... Kent's homer set a franchise record for home runs
by a second baseman, one more than 37 he hit in 1998. ... Hidalgo
stretched his hitting streak to a career-high 13.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
San Francisco Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 4
NY Yankees 0
Chi. White Sox 10
Detroit 3
Baltimore 3
Anaheim 1
Oakland 5
Tampa Bay 1
Kansas City 6
Seattle 3
Philadelphia 5
Montreal 2
Montreal 7
Philadelphia 6
(2nd game)
Cincinnati 7
Chicago Cubs 6
St. Louis 8
Pittsburgh 4
Milwaukee 8
NY Mets 2
San Francisco 8
Houston 7
Los Angeles 6
Arizona 3
San Diego 7
Colorado 2
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