El Duque Mows Down Giants
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Orlando Hernandez gave up two quick hits and little else over seven impressive innings, and the Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 4–2 last night for their fifth win in six games.
Jose Reyes energized the Mets with a leadoff walk, his major league-leading 29th steal and an RBI single. Teammate Carlos Beltran bruised his right knee in a first-inning collision with Giants first baseman Rich Aurilia, and was pulled.
Barry Bonds was steamed — literally — on a quiet night in which he went 0-for-3 and stayed at 746 career home runs. The Giants clubhouse was a bit muggy two hours before gametime, and he called for an attendant to turn on the air conditioning.
Hernandez (3–1) had his scoreless-inning streak stopped at a career-high 19 while sending the Giants to their fifth loss in six tries.
Randy Winn led off the game with a single, Omar Vizquel followed with a triple and Aurilia hit a sacrifice fly. That was about all the Giants managed against El Duque — the only other runner they got against him was a walk to pitcher Matt Cain (2-5).
The victory was nearly a carbon copy of Hernandez’s last outing, which came last week at Florida. Activated from the disabled list after a bout of bursitis in his right shoulder, he permitted a leadoff single and then retired the next 17 batters.
Hernandez struck out three and walked one. Featuring his usual assortment of pitches and deliveries, he also provided a little comic relief.
With a runner on first in the third inning, Hernandez fielded Winn’s comebacker without realizing it was fouled off his foot. Hernandez instinctively whirled and fired to second — with no one covering, the ball sailed into center field.
Joe Smith pitched the eighth and Billy Wagner finished the combined two-hitter with his 13th save.
The Mets’ trio kept Bonds in the ballpark, though that’s not so rare. He has 13 home runs in 419 career at-bats at Shea, by far his lowest rate at any stadium.
Down 2–0, Reyes and the Mets got going in a hurry. He drew a leadoff walk, swiped second and took third on a grounder.
