Diamondbacks Knock Out Giants

Call them the desert bombers, or maybe the desert brawlers.

The Arizona Diamondbacks hit four home runs, giving them a major league-leading 24, and beat the San Francisco Giants 10-4 Friday night in a game that featured a bench-clearing fight and the ejection of Arizona pitcher Todd Stottlemyre and Giants third baseman Charlie Hayes.

"I said, `OK, well I'll knock you out,' " Hayes said, "and I tried. I don't like him anyway. I don't think nobody likes him. ... I don't think some of his teammates over there like him. He's going to get some of them hurt. He needs to just pitch and just shut up."

Stottlemyre (1-0) opened the sixth by striking out Jeff Kent. Ellis Burks then walked, J.T. Snow singled and Hayes hit into a fielder's choice. Brent Mayne singled to drive in Burks and as Hayes, who had been exchanging expletives with Stottlemyre since he'd reached first base, charged the mound.

Hayes took a swing at Stottlemyre, who ducked. The punch barely grazed Stottlemyre's shoulder.

"He missed me all night at the plate and he missed me on the mound," Stottlemyre said.

Hayes, 0-for-13 against Stottlemyre in his career, said he'd been muttering to himself at first base and Stottlemyre apparently thought he was talking to him.

"I thought he was yelling at me from first base, so when he got to second base, I had something to say to him," Stottlemyre said. "That was enough to trigger him, and here he came."

Stottlemyre ducked but the punch landed on his shoulder. The two players tangled, and Williams charged from third, tackling Hayes. Giants third base coach Sonny Jackson tackled Stottlemyre. Both dugouts and both bullpens emptied in a giant scrum near the mound.

"Probably thankfully Matt came over from third base like a bullfighter," Stottlemyre said. "I was only under there for a short while. I's never any fun being at the bottom of the pile. But one thing about being on the bottom, there's not a whole lot you can do, just lay there."

Stottlemyre has been involved in plenty of brawls but said it was the first time anyone had ever charged him from second base. Lee, Arizona's first baseman, said it was just a nasty confrontation between two highly competitive players.

"He started yelling at Stott. Stott's a gamer and he's a gamer. You put two guys together like that and sparks are going to fly," Lee said.

When order was restored, Hayes had to be restrained by teammate Barry Bonds, who wrapped his arms around the angry player and walked him to the dugout. Stottlemyre and Arizona manager Buck Showalter argued that Stottlemyre shouldn't be thrown out because he was just defending himself, but to no avail.

It was the second dugout-clearing incident of the season for the Diamondbacks. They charged the mound in the second game of the season at Dodger Stadium when Williams contended that Chan Ho Park was throwing at his head. Stottlemyre was pitching that night, too.

Tony Batista, Matt Williams and Travis Lee each hit two-run homers and Steve Finley added a solo shot for Arizona.

Batista also had two doubles and drove in three runs. Finley also doubled and had an RBI sacrifice fly as the Diamondbacks pounded Giants' pitchers for 14 hits.

The homers by Batista and Williams came off Giants starter Mark Gardner (0-2), rocked for seven home runs and 17 runs in 13 innings this season.

Stottlemyre got his first victory for Arizona despite his forced exit with two outs in the top of the sixth. He gave up three runs on six hits in 5 2-3 innings.

Rich Aurilia hit a two-run homer for San Francisco in the third, his second of the season.

Gardner was knocked out after facing three batters in the fifth. He gave up seven runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out three. He also had a balk that allowed a run to score.

Finley led off the second with a double off the right-field fence, then Batista hit Gardner's 2-2 pitch 374 feet over the fence in left. Aurilia's homer tied it 2-2 in the third, but the Diamondbacks got two more in their half of the third on Finley's sacrifice fly and Batista's RBI double off the center-field wall to make it 4-2.

Arizona broke open the game with four runs in the fifth, including Williams' 416-foot blast over the center-field fence, his third home run of the season. That homer ended the night for Gardner. Finley's homer came off reliever Alan Embree later in the fifth, and Lee hit his off Miguel Del Toro in the sixth.

With one out and runners on first and third in the fifth, Bonds hit a grounder up the middle. Second baseman Jay Bell, who committed an error the previous inning, made a diving catch to his right, then flipped the ball from his glove to the shortstop Batista, who completed the inning-ending double play.

Bian Anderson gave up one run in 3 1-3 innings of relief for Arizona.

Notes: The Diamondbacks are 4-1 halfway through a 10-game homestand. ... After winning their first five, the Giants are 2-4. ... After starting the season 0-for-14, Batista is 14-for-30 (.467). ... Gardner has given up 17 earned runs in 13 innings in his three starts. ... During the sixth-inning melee, Arizona's Randy Johnson lost his cap and mistakenly donned a Giants' hat instead. He quickly corrected the error. ... If Arizona beats San Francisco on Saturday, the Diamondbacks will have a .500 record for the first time in the franchise's two-year history.

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