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GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- San Francisco isn't guaranteed a home-field path through the NL playoffs to the World Series -- yet.
Matt Mieske broke a tie with a leadoff homer in the eighth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks stopped the Giants from
clinching home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs by beating them 5-1 Saturday night.
The Giants (96-65), who needed one more win or an Atlanta loss to clinch the NL's best record and home-field advantage, came up short for the second straight week against Arizona's Geraldo Guzman.
Luis Gonzalez also homered during Arizona's four-run rally in the eighth.
Guzman (5-4) worked eight strong innings, giving up five hits,
striking out five and walking two.
His only mistake came against pinch-hitter Damon Minor, who
homered with two outs in the seventh to tie the game at 1.
But Mieske, who was released by Houston on Aug. 18 and signed by
Arizona, lined the first pitch off reliever Alan Embree 455 feet
onto the front row of restaurant seating in right field.
It was his first homer for the Diamondbacks, second this year -- and the longest he has ever hit.
"I don't remember hitting one that far before," Mieske said.
"It's the best one has ever felt coming off the bat. And it was
good for Guzman. It would have been tough to for him to walk away
from that performance with no decision."
Embree (3-5) also gave up a single to Craig Counsell, the first batter after Mieske, and was pulled for John Johnstone.
Johnstone allowed a single to Danny Bautista and Gonzalez's
three-run homer before getting an out. He was lifted after Jason
Conti singled, and Doug Henry got the last two outs.
Before the game began, Cincinnati beat St. Louis 8-4, and the Giants went in knowing they would play the New York Mets in a first-round series beginning Wednesday at Pacific Bell Park.
But the issue of best record remained in question, because the Braves (95-66) won.
Gonzalez thought it looked like the Giants were getting ready
for the Mets, but Jeff Kent bristled at the suggestion that his team was satisfied with taking the NL West title that Arizona won
last year.
"We try to win every game we play," Kent said. "It doesn't
matter if there's any prize at the end of the rainbow. You always
try to win every game you play. That's just the nature of a
competitor."
The Giants couldn't close the deal against Guzman, who beat them 7-5 in San Francisco on Sept. 23 to snap a string of four starts when he went 0-2.
The rookie right-hander, who spent seven years as a carpenter in
his native Dominican Republic before returning to baseball, seemed
to get stronger as the game progressed.
He walked Bill Mueller, the second batter he faced, but escaped
the first inning without damage when Mueller tried to score from
first on Barry Bonds' double and second baseman Craig Counsell
threw Mueller out at home.
"For the mental state of a young pitcher, I liked that play,"
manager Buck Showalter said. "Danny made a great throw, and Craig
put it right at home."
Guzman got Armando Rios and J.T. Show to ground into
inning-ending double plays in the second and fourth, respectively,
and struck out the side in the fifth.
He walked Mueller again with two outs in the sixth, but Bonds
hit a harmless grounder to force Mueller at second.
Arizona scored first when Counsell stretched his two-out line
drive to right field into a double in the third inning, and
Bautista followed with a triple to the 413-foot mark in right
center off Mark Gardner.
"It was a big game tonight," said Gardner, who gave up six
hits and struck out five during his seven innings. "The
Diamondbacks play us tough. It took me a little while to get going,
but I thought I threw on the corners."
Game notes
Gonzalez finished with a career-high 113 RBI, second-most
in franchise history. ... Gonzalez has a franchise-record 79 extra-base hits. ... Kent was 1-for-4 and has 194 hits, the most by a Giants player since Will Clark had 194 in 1989. ... It was only
the Giants' sixth loss in their last 22 road games. ... Bonds is
2-for-23 in his last seven games against the Diamondbacks. ... The
teams are tied 6-6 this season, with the Giants losing for the
first time in five games in Phoenix.
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