SAN FRANCISCO -- Jose Cruz Jr. couldn't escape Benito Santiago's motto. All spring, Cruz heard it from the catcher.
"'Once the lights come on,' Benito has been telling me all the time, `that's when it counts,"' Cruz said.
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| Edgardo Alfonzo celebrates hitting his first homer for the Giants.(AP) |
After a sub-par spring, Cruz has hit safely in all seven games.
Rich Aurilia also had two homers and Edgardo Alfonzo hit his first home run for San Francisco. And so far, the Giants haven't had to show much of their speed on the basepaths that manager Felipe Alou raved about all spring -- because they're winning with their power.
At 7-0, the Giants are off to their best start since moving to San Francisco, topping the 6-0 mark that began their pennant-winning 2002 season. When the franchise was in New York, the Giants started 7-0 in 1930 and 9-0 in 1918.
"These guys are serious about this season," said Alou, who won his debut in Pacific Bell Park. "The feeling is that we know we have a shot. What attracted me to this job besides the offer -- the offer brought me here -- was this franchise."
Alou was joined by younger brothers Jesus and Matty to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. An old picture of the three in uniform with their hands together showed on the center-field scoreboard as they made their tosses from the mound.
Aurilia hit his second homer in the eighth off Mike Bynum (0-1) to break a 4-all tie. Alfonzo, who signed as a free agent during the offseason, came up two batters later and also homered. Aurilia had his fifth multihomer game, the first since Sept. 4, 2001, at Arizona.
Even without Dusty Baker in the dugout and former league MVP Jeff Kent, the Giants are doing just fine.
"There's no Jeff. There's no Dusty. No this guy or that guy. Why even think about it?" Aurilia said. "I want to talk about (Ray) Durham, Edgardo and Felipe."
And, of course, Cruz.
Cruz hit a solo shot in his first at-bat, and his two-run homer in his next plate appearance stayed just fair of the foul pole in left. He singled in the fifth.
Aurilia followed Cruz's third-inning shot with a homer that just cleared the fence. The Giants also hit back-to-back home runs on opening day in San Diego last week when Santiago and J.T. Snow connected on consecutive pitches.
Snow left Monday's game after the seventh because of cramps in his right calf. San Diego third baseman Sean Burroughs left the game in the fifth with right shoulder soreness. His replacement, Lou Merloni, tripled and scored the Padres' first run in the sixth on a single by Wiki Gonzalez.
Gonzalez drove in two more runs with an eighth-inning double that chased Felix Rodriguez, and pinch-hitter Mark Loretta doubled to drive in Gonzalez for the tying run.
Tim Worrell (1-0) pitched the final 1 1/3 innings. Bynum allowed three runs and three hits in the eighth.
San Francisco starter Jason Schmidt retired the side in the first, then allowed runners the next five innings.
Schmidt gave up three straight singles with two outs in the third that loaded the bases, but threw a called third strike past Ryan Klesko, pumping a fist as he left the mound. Schmidt allowed one run and seven hits with seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
"We got some runners on against Schmidt, but he made his pitches when he had to," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said.
Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk, and he fell over fielding a high flyball to left by Ramon Vazquez in the sixth, appearing to lose the ball in the sun. Bonds is hitting .200 (4-for-20) in his first six games.
Cruz also made a diving catch on a drive by Xavier Nady in the second.
Padres starter Oliver Perez gave up four runs and five hits in five innings, striking out four and walking two.
Alou received a standing ovation and fireworks when he was introduced, and he tipped his hat to the crowd. The cheers for him were louder than those for five-time NL MVP slugger Bonds.
The three Alou brothers made up an all-Alou outfield in several games 40 years ago.
Bonds was joined by his mother and 4-year-old daughter, Aisha Lynn, who gave him a kiss as he was honored for the MVP and Silver Slugger award.
Notes
- Bonds struck out in the third for his fifth strikeout of the season. Last year, he didn't get his fifth strikeout until April 25. He struck out again in the fifth, and didn't have his sixth K until May 7 last year.
- Cruz had his third multihit game.
- Cruz has 11 multihomer games.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
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