It sure looked like the Giants got the better end of the Matt Morris-for-Rajai Davis deal as they headed into the eighth inning Friday night, but the four runs Davis had delivered weren't enough, and the Giants fell, 8-7, to the Pirates.
As Davis blurred around the bases in the fifth inning, his double easily became a triple. There was no stopping him when he blazed home on a sacrifice bunt. The momentum was in the Giants' favor, and Davis had almost singlehandedly turned it in their direction.

Barry Bonds had helped with another record-breaking home run that soared onto the right-field Arcade, but Davis was playing so well that he was overshadowing even Bonds.

The Giants entered the eighth inning with a four-run lead and the game in their pocket. Morris had put it there when he served up the two-run shot to Bonds and left with a three-run deficit. But bad relief pitching and poor fielding erased it all, and the Giants were served with a painful loss from the worst team in the National League.

If you're looking for numbers as an explanation, Jonathan Sanchez was tagged with four runs, but don't point the finger solely at him. He was just one piece in the ugly eighth-inning puzzle.

The Giants were still clinging to a two-run lead when Sanchez left. There were two on and none out, but the damage was repairable. It became unrepairable when Ray Durham made a fielding error that put the tying run on third and the bullpen gave up another two runs.

The Pirates put up six runs that inning while the Giants went through four relievers and eventually lost the game.

"We have done it too many times; that's why we are where we're at," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We're not closing these ones out when we have the lead, and tonight, we let it get away."

It was a tough one to swallow, but there were bright spots.

Bonds' home run No. 758 was one of them. Bonds started building the Giants' lead in the third inning with his two-run shot that busted up a tie ballgame. As a former Giant, Morris has gotten a firsthand look at most of Bonds' home runs this season, but this was the first time he saw it from the mound.

If Davis was trying to look good in front of the team that traded him, mission accomplished. The speedy outfielder was just a home run from a cycle and accounted for four of the Giants' six runs heading into the eighth. Davis has been killing right-handers lately, going 6-for-8 in the past two games with three stolen bases.

It was just the kind of support that Russ Ortiz needed in his first trip to the mound as a starter since May 1. Ortiz threw a perfect first, but maybe too perfect, as he said the adrenaline and excitement of being back drained him quickly.

Ortiz threw only 61 pitches, but was already tired by the fifth. Despite the fatigue, he worked his way out of the fifth when he loaded the bases with a one-run lead and managed to escape unscored upon. He came out after that, having given up one home run, two runs total.

"I liked the way I threw the ball, but I was frustrated that I was tired," Ortiz said. "We knew I was capable of throwing that many pitches, so I would have liked to see me go out another inning, but like I said, I was tired."

But Ortiz wasn't the only one who ran out of steam that night.

"We've got to finish the game. It's nine innings," Bochy said. "We played well until the eighth. Then we let it get away."


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