TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona first baseman Erubiel Durazo had surgery Thursday to remove a broken hamate bone in his right wrist.

	Durazo

Durazo, the leading hitter in all of baseball this spring with a .535 average, is expected to be sidelined six weeks, according to specialist Dr. Don Sheridan.

The big left-handed slugger was injured when he swung at and missed a pitch from Dave Lundquist in the sixth inning of Wednesday night's game against San Diego.

The surgery came late Thursday afternoon after an MRI exam showed the break. Sheridan said the wrist be in a splint for 7-to- 10 days, then if all goes well, Durazo can begin full range-of-motion work.

Going Gonzo

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Luis Gonzalez homered for the fifth consecutive game Thursday as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3. Gonzalez, who hit 57 home runs last season, started the spring slowly, with two hits in his first 18 at bats. But in his last five games, he has gone 9-for-12 with two doubles to go with his five homers. He has 10 RBI in that span. Gonzalez's seven home runs are the most of any hitter in baseball this spring. -- The Associated Press

Sheridan performed two operations on Durazo's right wrist in 2000, but this injury is not related to that problem, trainer Paul Lessard said. The Diamondbacks' Junior Spivey is among several players who have had the tiny bone removed.

"Until about four years ago, I didn't know we had a hamate bone in our bodies," manager Bob Brenly said. "Over the last four years it seems there are 10 guys every year who go down with this injury."

Durazo was leading all hitters this spring in average, slugging percentage (1.070), on-base percentage (.553) and total bases (46). He was tied with teammate Luis Gonzalez in home runs (six) and tied with Gonzalez for second in RBI with 16.

"The way Ruby's been swinging the bat you just hate to see something like this happen," Brenly said. "I mean, he was poised to have a special kind of season this year, and he still will. It's just going to be delayed a little while."

With Greg Colbrunn recovering from arthroscopic elbow surgery, the Diamondbacks find themselves with a shortage of first basemen to back up Mark Grace.

Backup catcher Rod Barajas played first last season at Triple-A Tucson and is the top candidate for the job. Brenly said Craig Counsell also can play first, as can Chris Donnels. Brenly suggested that perhaps Jay Bell could as well.

Grace had expected his playing time to drop because Durazo was hitting so well.

"Deservedly so," Grace said. "He was doing so well. You hate to see anything like that."

Durazo's power will be sorely missed in a lineup that already was missing third baseman Matt Williams, out at least until July with a broken ankle.

"It's a big loss," Brenly said, "but this ball club has shown tremendous resilience in the past couple of years and we're going to be tested once again."