Giants not-so hearty after 715 party

Oakland Tribune, May 30, 2006 by Andrew BaggarlySTAFF WRITER

MIAMI -- The Marlins payroll is so small, Barry Bonds could write all their checks this season and still have $4 million to stick in the bank. Pretax, of course.

But there is an advantage in unfamiliarity. There is another advantage in having your opponents land at 3 a.m. while coming down from a champagne high.

The Giants came out flatter than discarded domestic brut Monday night, left-hander Scott Olsen had the goods to beat them, and Matt Morris sprouted a few more gray hairs in his beard after a 5-1 loss at Dolphin Stadium.

Jacobs, Willingham, Hermida and Uggla drove in the runs for Florida, and if you knew their first names were Mike, Josh, Jeremy and Dan, respectively, your fellow fantasy league owners are in trouble.

Morris allowed a home run to Jacobs in the fourth inning and a pair of RBI singles in the sixth to lose again. The Giants' priciest addition this winter, Morris is 3-6 with a 5.40 earned-run average, and the club has lost eight of his 11 starts.

"You come to a new team and want to lead by example on the field," Morris said. "But whether I pitch bad and lose or pitch decent and lose, it's not where I want to be."

Olsen had the Giants in a perfect spot. The 22-year-old from Kalamazoo, Mich., allowed five hits over seven innings,from Sports 1

including a solo homer to Ray Durham, and benefited from an older team jumping three time zones in the middle of the night.

"It was a good frame of mind but no body to retaliate," Giants manager Felipe Alou said. "It was really, really dead."

There wasn't much life in the crowd, either, which was announced at 7,683 -- little more than half of what the Giants draw for a spring game at Scottsdale Stadium. Amazingly, the Marlins have drawn smaller crowds four times in 24 home games. The section in right field, usually vacant, was about a quarter full of fans that hoped to catch Bonds' home run No.716.

Bonds was in the lineup, but the flag didn't unofficially drop on the Hank Aaron chase. Bonds grounded into the shift, singled, struck out and fouled out.

"He was tired, but younger men were dragging tonight," said Alou, who played Bonds because he wants to rest him Wednesday. "I felt tired and I was not even playing."

A majority in the crowd cheered Bonds before his first at-bat, perhaps a recognition of his passing Babe Ruth the previous day in San Francisco. Before jetting east, the Giants had marked the occasion with a private champagne party.

There could be more bubbly in the offing. In an impromptu gathering at his locker, Bonds told reporters that he envisions playing next year if his health allows.

It wasn't too far removed from comments he made earlier this season, and there's still four months of baseball in which his knee could blow out. But he sounded surer of a 2007 capper to his career, and a run at hitting the 41 homers he needs to break Hank Aaron's all-time record.

"Well, that's because my son keeps telling me, 'Dad, you can still play,'" Bonds said. "He said, 'You don't run as well at times when you play every day, but, Dad, you can still hit a ball a long way. If you work at it all the time, you can keep on doing it.' I'll sit back and think about that one. I told him, you get straight A's and I'll think about playing."

There was chicken dance music, but not for Bonds. Alou flashed four fingers from the Giants dugout when Miguel Cabrera came to the plate in the sixth inning with Uggla on second base and two outs. The Marlins' game operations folks played the song, but there were no rubber poultry sightings.

Morris crossed up catcher Mike Matheny with a fastball, allowing Uggla to move up on a passed ball. Willingham and Hermida followed with consecutive RBI singles, the second of which scored Cabrera, to open up a 1-0 game.

"I've got to walk that guy," Alou said. "I know Willingham can hit, but I think the other guy is better."

How they scored

Marlins fourth: Jacobs homered with one out. Marlins 1, Giants 0.

Marlins sixth: Uggla doubled with one out. Cabrera was intentionally walked with tw outs. On Matheny's passed ball, Uggla to third. Willingham singled, Uggla scored, Cabrera to second. Hermida singled, Cabrera scored. Marlins 3, Giants 0.

Giants seventh: Durham homered. Marlins 3, Giants 1.

Marlins seventh: Treanor was hit by a pitch. Amezaga walked, Treanor to second. Ramirez grounded out, Treanor to third, Amezaga to second. Uggla singled, Treanor scored, Amezaga scored. Marlins 5, Giants 1.

For more Giants coverage, visit http://www.insidebayarea.com/ giants and to read ANG's baseball blog go to http://www.ibabuzz.com/ baseball.