KMAX: Sports

Royals 5, Giants 4

By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Down by a run with two out in the ninth, Aaron Guiel had the patience to coax a walk out of Tim Worrell after falling behind 0-2.

Mike Sweeney didn't even try.

Sweeney hit an 0-2 fastball into the gap in right-center field, driving in two runs and lifting Kansas City to a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

``Once I got up there I knew the team was relying on me to get the job done and fortunately I got it done,'' Sweeney said. ``It was one of the best feelings I've had all year.''

Guiel easily beat the throw home from center fielder Marquis Grissom to score the winning run.

Worrell (2-3), who had converted 17 of 19 save opportunities, opened the ninth by giving up a bloop double to Angel Berroa. Berroa was sacrificed to third and Guiel, with two out, quickly fell behind 0-2. The next four pitches were all outside, bringing Kansas City's most dangerous hitter to the plate.

``I was tempted to swing a couple of times, especially since there was some close calls against me the last couple of games,'' said Guiel, who was running when Sweeney connected.

``I thought he might be a little more aggressive, especially with Mike on deck. But he came with a changeup and stuck to it. I'm just trying to get to first base and get Mike to the plate.''

Ironically, Sweeney hit a pitch that probably was out of the strike zone.

``I don't think it was a strike, but he's a very aggressive guy,'' Giants manager Felipe Alou said. ``I thought we were in trouble when Guiel milked that walk. There are no soft losses in this game.''

Barry Bonds hit career home run No. 632 to help stake the Giants to an early 4-2 lead. He connected off Jose Lima, who was signed from Newark of the independent Atlantic League last week.

Lima, a former NL All-Star trying to resurrect his career, gave up Bonds' 19th homer of the year leading off the fourth.

It was the first home run for Bonds in the stadium where his father, Bobby, homered and was named MVP of the 1973 All-Star game.

Bonds now has at least one home run in 30 different parks. He has also homered in 16 of the Giants' 22 series this season.

Lima went six innings in his first major league start last Aug. 24 with Detroit. He gave up four runs on six hits, with one walk and one strikeout.

``I don't know how to describe it,'' Lima said. ``From where I was last week to being here is big.''

Mike MacDougal (2-3) pitched the ninth, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Rookie Jerome Williams lasted six innings in his fourth major league start for the Giants, giving up two runs and six hits, and walked four. He was in line for his first major league victory until the Royals rallied.

The Royals' defense left Lima down in the second inning. Bonds singled and came around to score when Guiel fielded Edgardo Alfonzo's single in right field and threw the ball into the stands behind third.

Bonds scored and Alfonzo was awarded third. Alfonzo scored on J.T. Snow's RBI grounder for a 2-0 lead.

Berroa had two doubles and a triple. He doubled in the third and eventually scored on Williams' throwing error to first. Raul Ibanez's sacrifice fly tied it at 2 later in the inning.

Bonds homered 415 feet over the fence in left, then Jose Cruz Jr. doubled in the fifth and later scored on Grissom's sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.

The Royals got a run in the seventh when Berroa scored from third on a wild pitch by Jason Christiansen.

Guiel hit a bizarre single in the first inning. The ball slammed into the dirt about a foot or so from the plate and bounded across the foul line. But then it spun backward like a billiard ball and returned to fair territory. A startled Alfonzo at third base had no chance to make a play.< ^Notes:@ Bonds' streak of reaching base in 37 consecutive games is the longest current streak in the majors. ... 1B Ken Harvey made two nifty plays to help Lima in the first inning. He made a good pickup of Benard's hot grounder and turned a 3-6-3 double play, then made a diving stop of Ray Durham's grounder and flipped to Lima covering the bag. ... Durham's career-long hitting streak was stopped at 16 games when he went 0-for-3 and was pinch-hit for in the seventh. The Giants said he was lifted because of tightness in a leg muscle. ... The three-game series, the Giants' first appearance in Kansas City, drew 99,318.

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