| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) So much for home field advantage.
Pacific Bell Park, where San Francisco had the best home record in the National League this season, was not a comfortable place for the Giants in a 9-5 loss Wednesday to the Florida Marlins in Game 2 of their NL division series.
Jose Cruz Jr., who quickly mastered Pac Bell's quirky right field in his first season with the Giants, slipped in the mud on the game's decisive play. It turned into a two-run double for Juan Pierre, breaking a 5-all tie in the sixth.
There were boos from the home crowd for reliever Joe Nathan, who allowed a homer and three straight singles before Pierre's double. And that homer, by Juan Encarnacion, was helped into the left-field stands by a strong wind.
The prone Cruz, who could only watch as Pierre's hit flew over him, said the conditions were the worst he had experienced all year at the ballpark along San Francisco Bay.
``Right when I was about to catch that ball, I stepped on a mud patch and slipped,'' he said. ``It was tough out there today, maybe the most difficult we've seen all year because of the way the ball was moving around.''
The little things that the Giants did so well this season to win 100 games, including 57 at home, were missing Wednesday and now they head to Miami with the best-of-five series tied at one game apiece.
The normally solid bullpen struggled. Nathan, a 12-game winner as a reliever this season, allowed three runs on four hits, while retiring only one batter. Jason Christiansen relieved him, and gave up Pierre's double before being yanked.
``It was my job to get outs, and I didn't do that,'' Nathan said.
After starter Sidney Ponson lasted just five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, six relievers allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings.
The usually flawless J.T. Snow made an error at first base, letting a grounder split his legs as the Marlins added a run in the seventh. Though he said he simply missed that ball, Snow also said the conditions were awful.
``The last two days, the wind has been different than I've seen it here. Maybe it's the autumn winds or something,'' Snow said. ``The sun was in and out of the clouds.''
And center fielder Marquis Grissom dropped a liner in the eighth, giving the Marlins their ninth run.
The miscues by the Giants, who had the fourth best fielding percentage in the majors during the regular season, overshadowed some heroics by Barry Bonds.
Bonds, turning on a low inside pitch, had a run-scoring double in the first. He made a sliding catch in left field to end the second. In the fourth, after getting yet another walk he now has five in the two games of the series he scored from first on a double, almost running down teammate Rich Aurilia.
But the Marlins intentionally walked Bonds to load the bases in the fifth, and got out of the jam when Edgardo Alfonzo and Benito Santiago hit infield popups.
And Bonds popped out leading off the eighth against Marlins rookie Dontrelle Willis.
``You can't worry about home field advantage,'' Bonds said. ``If you can't win on the road, you shouldn't be playing.''