Estes Good Enough to Turn Back Phillies

San Francisco pitcher Shawn Estes was far more pleased with the final score than his performance.

Estes (16-4) gave up five runs on seven hits in six-plus innings, winning his fourth consecutive decision as the Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-5, Tuesday night to remain two games ahead of the Dodgers in the National League West.

“I thought I had good stuff and I felt very good physically,” said Estes, 3-0 against the Phillies this season. “I didn’t concentrate very well. When I needed to make good pitches, it seemed like I was missing my spots and the Phillies capitalized on my mistakes.”

Giants Manager Dusty Baker agreed.

“He really didn’t have his best stuff tonight,” Baker said. “He kept missing on quality pitches, but he gave us what he could. It helped that we scored a lot of runs for him. It’s nice to get runs when your top pitcher doesn’t have his best stuff.”

Phillie starter Mark Leiter (8-13) gave up seven runs and seven hits in five innings.

“Leiter gave up too many walks [four] and he was hit pretty hard,” said Phillies Manager Terry Francona, whose team had won seven of its previous eight games. “It’s frustrating because he’s been pitching well for us lately. Tonight he seemed to have trouble with his concentration.”

The Giants took a 2-0 lead in the second on Mark Lewis’ 10th home run.

The Phillies got a run back in the third when Estes hit Scott Rolen with the bases loaded, and tied it in the fourth on Tony Barron’s RBI double.

With the score tied, 2-2, in the fifth, the Giants loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Stan Javier had an RBI infield single and Bill Mueller tripled to center when Ruben Amaro missed a shoestring catch. He scored on Lewis’ sacrifice fly.

“I probably should have backed off and maybe I could have saved a couple of runs,” Amaro said. “I tried to be aggressive, but I guess it was a mistake.”