Williams Gets an A in Return : Baseball: Giants’ third baseman comes off the disabled list and hits 22nd homer in 8-1 victory over Mets.

After 2 1/2 weeks on the disabled list, Matt Williams looked like he’d never been away. How he felt was another matter.

“It felt like the first day of school,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been as nervous as I was today. I don’t know why. I woke up at 5:30 this morning.”

Nervous or not, Williams singled in his first at-bat and hit a two-run homer in his second, sparking the San Francisco Giants to an 8-1 victory Thursday over the hapless New York Mets.

Returning to the lineup after missing 13 games with an abdominal strain, Williams went two for two and increased his RBI total to 66, second in the NL behind teammate Barry Bonds. Williams, who reported no physical problems, also was hit by a pitch and intentionally walked before being pulled for a pinch runner in the seventh.

Williams’ comeback pleased Giant Manager Dusty Baker almost as much as seeing his first-place team pick up where it left off before the All-Star break, getting 13 hits.

“He hasn’t seen live pitching like that in two weeks,” Baker said. “It’s a tribute to him, and he came in right when we needed him.”

With the game tied, 1-1, Williams ignited a four-run fourth with his 22nd homer after Bonds led off the inning with a single. Mark Carreon doubled, went to third on Royce Clayton’s groundout and scored on Kirt Manwaring’s single.

Manwaring scored on a double by Darren Lewis to give San Francisco a 5-1 lead off starter Eric Hillman (0-4). Lewis also made two fine defensive plays in center field and tied the major-league record for consecutive errorless games in the outfield.

Lewis hasn’t made an error in 266 games, tying the mark set by Don Demeter from 1962-65.

“It was nice I was able to make those catches on the day I tied the record,” said Lewis, who has played in only 279 games in the majors. “I think it shows what I do daily in the outfield. I make the hard catch look easy.”

Winner Bill Swift (12-5) gave up an unearned run on six hits in seven innings and benefited from two double plays. He struck out four and walked one.

San Francisco added three runs in the seventh on a two-run triple by Carreon and a single by Clayton. Both hits came off reliever Dave Telgheder.

The Giants, baseball’s best team in the first half, improved to 60-30 and 30-11 at home.

For the Mets, baseball’s worst team, it was more of the same.

“The three days off didn’t seem to help the pitching, defense or offense,” Manager Dallas Green said. “What have we got left? Baserunning? I thought we did a good job there.

“I keep hoping somewhere down the line guys will work harder and get better. You can only scream and yell so much. I’m just disappointed in the way we played.”

Leading the way was third baseman Howard Johnson, who committed two errors on the same play to give the Giants their first run. After Lewis hit a two-out double, Steve Scarsone hit a grounder that Johnson bobbled for one error. Johnson’s throw to first sailed over Eddie Murray’s head for the second error, allowing Lewis to score.

In the eighth, Johnson made his third error to tie the team record held by several. Johnson also did in in 1990.

“I played poorly today,” he said. “It’s tough to put it behind you and go on, even if you’re a professional.”