Serafini Feels at Home, Even Against Giants

Going home was no problem for Dan Serafini.

The San Francisco native and Bay Area resident was recalled from the minors by Pittsburgh late Friday and thrown into the starting rotation Saturday against San Francisco, the team he had rooted for as a kid.

He gave up two runs, eight hits and only one walk in 6 2/3 innings to defeat the Giants, 7-2.

“I was excited, and so were my wife and parents,” said Serafini, who left only four tickets--for his parents, wife and 3-year-old daughter.

“My main motivation was that I was back in the big leagues, and I want to stay here,” he said. “I got started slowly with the Padre organization this season and then got traded. I want to prove that I’m worthy of staying here.”

Serafini (1-0) made three appearances with San Diego earlier this season.

“We have a doubleheader next Tuesday, and we didn’t want to pitch one of our guys on short rest,” Pirate Manager Gene Lamont said, “so we brought Dan up to fill in now. He did a great job today, but we may use him in relief or as both a reliever and spot starter.”

Serafini, who started four times in 42 appearances for the Cubs last season, said it doesn’t matter--”whatever gives me a job.”

Said Giant Manager Dusty Baker: “Serafini pitched well. He changed speeds well and really popped his cut fastball inside. The Pirates played well today, and we didn’t. We had opportunities to get back into the game but didn’t. It was a bad day at the yard.”

Pittsburgh had 13 hits to back Serafini and relievers Josias Manzanillo and Mike Williams. Brian Giles had four hits, while Jason Kendall, Kevin Young and Aramis Ramirez had two hits each.

Pittsburgh, which stranded 12 runners, went ahead in the fourth on John Vander Wal’s RBI-grounder and Alex Ramirez’s run-scoring double, then made it 5-0 in the fifth on Vander Wal’s two-run single and Ramirez’s RBI-single.

New York 6, Arizona 2--Robin Ventura hit a two-run homer and Edgardo Alfonzo drove in two runs with two singles as the Mets moved within three games of NL East-leading Atlanta with a victory over the Diamondbacks at Phoenix.

Mike Piazza and Derek Bell also drove in runs for the Mets, who won for the fourth time in a row and the 10th time in 11 games.

Piazza sprained his left knee trying to beat out a grounder in the fourth and was taken from the game. X-rays were negative and the all-star catcher will be reevaluated today.

St. Louis 5, Atlanta 0--Will Clark homered for the third consecutive game and Garrett Stephenson pitched a five-hitter, leading the Cardinals over the Braves at St. Louis.

Clark, who homered and walked twice, is six for 10 since being acquired from Baltimore on Tuesday.

Stephenson (12-7), winning for just the fourth time since May 29 following an 8-0 start, struck out five and walked one for his second shutout this season.

Chicago 6, San Diego 3--Sammy Sosa hit his 34th home run and reached 100 RBIs for the sixth consecutive season as the Cubs won at San Diego, stopping the Padres’ six-game winning streak.

Sosa’s three-run drive off Woody Williams (6-4) was the 370th of his career, moving him past Ralph Kiner on the career list and tying Gil Hodges for 48th place.

Colorado 7, Philadelphia 6--Terry Shumpert capped a three-run rally in the ninth at Denver with a two-out, game-winning single as the Rockies defeated the Phillies, who lost their fifth consecutive.

With the Rockies trailing 6-4, Jeff Cirillo hit a one-out double off Jeff Brantley (1-6) and Todd Helton singled, improving his NL-leading average to .379 with his third hit of the game.

Montreal 10, Houston 9--Terry Jones’ single off Marc Valdez (2-4) scored Lee Stevens with the go-ahead run with two outs in the 10th at Houston.

Montreal had four homers, including three off Jose Lima, increasing his major league-leading total to 35 in 23 starts.

Florida 10, Cincinnati 5--Mike Lowell’s two-run double in the 11th finished off a wild performance by Mark Wohlers (0-1) at Cincinnati as the Reds fell six games behind St. Louis in the NL Central with their fourth consecutive loss.