It did not take long for the Giants to put some runs up and never look back. A big first inning led the Giants to their eighth win in twelve games, a rout of the Mets, 10-2 in the first game of the series. The momentum from their tenth inning win obviously carried over.
Jonathan Sanchez was given an early six-run lead to pitch with comfortably. He lasted seven innings and gave up two runs, one in the second and the other in the fourth on six hits. It looked as if the Mets could crawl back into game, but two runs in the sixth and seventh innings padded the lead, ensuring the victory. Sanchez walked just three batters while striking out eight over his seven innings of work, earning his fourth win of the season. Billy Sadler relieved him in the eighth, and finished the game, pitching two perfect innings with a strikeout of his own.
The Giants exploded offensively, scoring six of their ten runs in the first inning, half of those were scored with the help of two homeruns. Rightfielder Randy Winn led off the game with a solo shot, and playing in his third game, outfielder Brian Horwitz hit his first homerun, a two-run blast. The Giants batters chased Mets starter Oliver Perez out of the game after he was only able to retire one hitter. Five of the Giants starters had multi-hit games, and catcher Bengie Molina went three-for-four with two runs scored. Second baseman Ray Durham also had three hits while driving in three runs, a double and two singles. Horwitz also drove in another run with a single later in the game. Aaron Rowand raised his batting average to .342 after going three-for-five, he also accounted for two of the Giants runs scored.
Hopefully this latest hot streak will carry on into the second game of the series, but San Francisco will face a tougher opponent in Mets starting pitcher Pedro Martinez. He will face Barry Zito, who has shown signs of improvement, his last two starts resulted in wins. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.
