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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Shawn Estes became the first Giants pitcher
in 51 years to hit a grand slam and just missed a shot at joining
Tony Cloninger, the only big league pitcher to hit two slams in a
game.
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| Estes |
He didn't do too badly on the mound either, throwing a
seven-hitter as San Francisco handed the Montreal Expos their
largest loss ever 18-0, Wednesday night. It was also the Giants'
largest shutout win in the modern era.
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“ |
That was perhaps the best performance I've seen by a
pitcher. He threw a shutout,
and hit a grand slam and then an RBI hit. ” |
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— Giants manager Dusty Baker
on Shawn Estes |
Estes, who connected for the slam in the fifth, came up with the
bases loaded in the eighth and launched a drive that set off gasps
from the crowd before curving foul. He then singled to drive in his
fifth run of the night.
"That was perhaps the best performance I've seen by a
pitcher," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "He threw a shutout,
and hit a grand slam and then an RBI hit. He also closed it out
tough. He overshadowed some great performances by Barry (Bonds) and
J.T. (Snow). But this was Shawn's night, big-time."
Bonds homered into San Francisco Bay, and Snow homered, tripled
and singled to drive in five runs, matching a career high. San
Francisco won for just the second time in 11 games.
The 18-run margin of defeat broke a mark set by the Expos in a
16-0 loss at St. Louis on Aug. 11, 1980 and Montreal manager Felipe
Alou was thankful Estes didn't make it worse.
"He had at shot at tying Cloninger's record," said Alou, who
was a teammate of the Atlanta Braves' pitcher when he hit two slams
July 3, 1966 against San Francisco. "I remember because I was
playing against the Giants in that game."
The runs were the most scored by the Giants since they beat Los
Angeles 18-4 on Sept. 19, 1998, and the victory margin was the
greatest since a 21-2 rout of St. Louis on July 9, 1988.
Estes, homering for the first time in three years and just the
second time in his career, broke open the game in the fifth inning
with the first-pitch slam off Mike Johnson, a drive that soared
into the left-field seats.
"With two outs and the bases loaded, I was just trying to make
contact," Estes said. "Tell you the truth, I wasn't going to
swing at the first pitch but he just threw it in there. It was just
one of those things.
"A home run is weird for a pitcher because you really don't
even feel it. I had to watch the replay to remember what happened.
It's a surreal feeling. Nothing compares to that."
Estes added one slam was enough.
"You don't want to rub it in," he said. "I was just happy to
get an RBI hit."
Estes is the first major league pitcher to hit a slam since St.
Louis' Kent Mercker at Florida on Sept. 2, 1998, according to the
Elias Sports Bureau.
The last Giants pitcher to hit a slam was Monte Kennedy, who did
it in the New York Giants' 16-0 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers at
the Polo Grounds on July 3, 1949. Before Wednesday, that had been
the Giants' largest shutout victory since 1900.
"I threw it hard and he hit it at the right spot," Johnson
said. "Bottom line is I was just trying to get the guy out and I
didn't."
Bonds hit his second homer in as many days and 18th of the year
while going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. The solo shot came off Mike
Thurman (1-1) and traveled 444 feet into McCovey Cove. It was the
fourth homer to splash down into the bay since Giants moved into
Pacific Bell Park this season, and all of them have been hit by
Bonds.
Estes (3-2) struck out seven and walked one in his sixth career
shutout and second this year. He scattered nine hits in blanking
Colorado 6-0 on May 6.
San Francisco was in command from the outset, getting three runs
in the first on Bonds' run-scoring double, Jeff Kent's RBI single
and Snow's sacrifice fly.
Bonds went deep in the third, sending Thurman's 3-2 offering
well over the right field wall and into the water, where a boater
fished the ball out with a net.
Jim Poole relieved to start the fifth and faced five batters
without retiring anyone, giving up RBI singles to Bonds and Snow
before being lifted for Johnson.
Johnson walked Ellis Burks with the bases loaded and fanned
Bobby Estalella and Rich Aurilia before Estes drove the first pitch
he saw into the left-field seats. Johnson slumped on the mound in
the disbelief as Estes rounded the bases to high-fives from
teammates and a roar from the crowd, which he saluted in a quick
curtain call.
Snow hit an opposite field three run homer in the seventh.
Game
notes
Bonds' last 10 hits had all gone for extra bases (seven
homers, three doubles) before his fifth-inning, run-scoring single.
... Snow has had five RBIs four times but has done it twice in the
last three days. He also had five RBIs against Milwaukee on Sunday.
... Estes, who came in batting .188, hit his first big league homer
off Florida's Alex Fernandez on June 3, 1997. ... Vladimir Guerrero
had two singles, his 21st multihit game of the season. ... Montreal
missed a chance to reach the .500 mark on the road, dropping to
7-9. ... The loss was just the second in the last nine games for
the Expos.
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Baseball Scoreboard
Montreal Clubhouse
San Francisco Clubhouse
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