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Giants Tee Off, Chase Beckett

An error in the third innings helped the Giants score four runs and chase Florida ace Josh Beckett. But you won't hear him criticizing the defense behind him.

Of Beckett's 73 pitches thrown, there were 45 strikes but his only wild throw of the night let Neifi Perez reach safely on what should have the second out of the inning. The play put two runners on and gave the next batter, Giants ace Jason Schmidt, an opening to try tosacrifice and keep the inning going.

Schmidt reached safely on a fielder's choice and Beckett walked Michael Tucker to load the bases for Edgardo Alfonzo. It was Alfonzo's two-run single that chased Beckett and started a four-run rally to put the game out of reach. Barry Bonds was walked by new pitcher Nate Bump and Rey Durham singled home two more runs.

While rumors of outbursts and equipment destruction in the Marlin locker room were all dismissed, Beckett said, "It's a complete disappointment."

"I was really looking forward to going head to head with these guys," he said. "Start to finish, I just didn't do anything right tonight." Beckett gave up eight hits and walked three in two and two-thirds innings to get his third loss of the season (2-3). His ERA took a hit and rose to 4.41.

Schmidt, also given two runs in each of the first two innings, slammed the door on the Marlins with a masterful four-hit complete game shutout. Schmidt, now 3-1 with a 2.31 ERA, finished strong by retiring 17 out of his last 18 batters. He walked none and struck out six.

"The guys came through tonight early," Schmidt said. "They all hit the ball well and really gave me a cushion to do my job right tonight."

Alfonzo and Durham led San Francisco with three hits and three RBI each. Centerfielder Jeffrey Hammonds also had three hits and two RBI off a first inning double.

The Hardware
Chicago took home Pitcher of the Month honors in both leagues and a former Cub walked off with Player of the Week and Batter of the Month awards.

Scott Schoeneweis is off to a great start this season with a 3-0 record for the White Sox. The southpaw has given up just three earned runs in over 27 innings of work. Also in Chicago, Cubs right-hander Matt Clement took home the other Pitcher of the Month award winning his first four games, striking out 24 in 24 innings and keeping his ERA down at 1.59. The White Sox have struggled in April but Clement is clearly one of the reasons the Cubs sit atop the NL Central.

Dodger Jose Hernandez has his hands full after a scalding-hot finish this month. He won Player of the Week by hitting .583 with five homers and 14 RBI propelling him to a Batter of the Month award. He finished April with a .425 batting average along with nine home runs, 26 RBI and an .836 slugging percentage. Gary Sheffield just has the one trophy but still holds it proud after a .393 April including seven dingers and 31 RBI.

Bernie Williams took AL Player of the week and finished it with an 18-game hitting streak. He hit .400 for the week, cracking five homers and knocking in 12 runs.

Gem In St. Louis as Morris, Wolf Duel
Matt Morris battled out of jams all night and gave up just one run in eight innings. But it was a three-hit complete game by Randy Wolf, including seven strikeouts, that gave Philadephia a 2-0 win in St. Louis Tuesday at Busch Stadium. Placido Polanco singled off Wolf in the first and the Cardinals didn't get another hit until the eighth inning. Morris got touched for a run in the fourth when Jimmy Rollins singled in Bobby Abreu. Polanco added an insurance run in the ninth with a solo shot off Ray King.

Oh-for-April (Worst Starts, minimum 51 AB)
Eric Young (NYA): .137/1 HR/8 RBI
Brian Schneider (MON): .143/0 HR/9 RBI
Troy Glaus (ANA): .160/1 HR/8 RBI
J.T. Snow (SFN): .160/1 HR/5 RBI
Khalil Greene (SDN): .167/0 HR/6 RBI

We Like These April Showers
Larry Walker (COL): .446/4 HR/25 RBI
Jose Hernandez (LAN): .425/9 HR/26 RBI
Vernon Wells (TOR): .410/4 HR/18 RBI
Manny Ramirez (BOS): .395/9 HR/23 RBI
Gary Sheffield (NYA): .393/7 HR/31 RBI

Race To Watch
NL East
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
New York (N) 15 8 .652 - 14-9 1 6-4 9-4 3-0 2-3 140 L1 7-3
Philadelphia 14 8 .636 .5 13-9 1 6-4 8-4 1-0 3-3 - W2 8-2
Montreal 12 12 .500 3.5 12-12 0 2-7 10-5 1-2 5-3 - W3 4-6
Florida 11 12 .478 4.0 12-11 -1 3-6 8-6 1-2 4-4 - W1 4-6
Atlanta 10 12 .455 4.5 11-11 -1 2-7 8-5 0-1 4-5 - W2 6-4

Injuries/Transactions
DET: Warren Morris: Torn Calf Muscle (4-5 weeks)
PIT: Brian Boehringer: Inflamed Bicep Tendon (3 weeks)
COL: Adam Bernero: Pulled Bicep Muscle (3-4 weeks)
John Franco (NYN) and Felix Jose (ARI) refused assignment to the minors and were released.

5/8 Game of the Week
Anyone have a preference for one of these games for next week's game of the week?
NYA (24-6) @ SEA (11-19) -- Mussina (3-1) v. Moyer (1-3)
MIN (15-13) @ OAK (17-12) -- Baker (4-0) v. Harden (3-1)
HOU (12-18) @ ATL (14-14) -- Pettitte (1-1) v. Hampton (2-1)
STL (15-15) @ MON (17-13) -- W. Williams (1-2) v. Vargas (2-3)
COL (11-17) @ CHN (19-11) -- Tollberg (2-0) v. Clement (4-0)
SFN (16-14) @ CIN (17-13) -- Tomko (0-2) v. Acevedo (2-1)
PHI (19-9) @ ARI (13-15) -- Wolf (2-2) v. Reynolds (0-1)

If not, I'll choose. Just thought I'd offer it up. I'm leaning towards MIN/OAK or one of the last two.