Snow Helps Giants Win, Gain Ground

J.T. Snow started out Sunday with a pair of strikeouts. Things got better from there.

Snow had a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning Sunday as the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4, for their 10th win in 12 games.

“It’s a funny game,” he said. “It started out being a bad day, and it turned out to be a good day.”

San Francisco moved within 1 1/2 games of the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks. . It’s the closest they’ve been to first since April 8.

Snow is batting .333 against AL clubs this season, and over the past four years has 19 home runs with a major league-leading 64 RBIs in interleague games.

The three-run homer, which cleared the right-field wall of the Giants’ new bayside ballpark but fell just short of a splash landing in McCovey Cove, came off Esteban Loaiza (5-6) and put San Francisco ahead, 4-3. It followed Barry Bonds’ leadoff walk and Jeff Kent’s single. Bobby Estalella added an RBI single off Francisco Cordero later in the inning.

“We knew if we stayed close, Loaiza has a tendency to give up the long ball. We were hoping someone would pop one,” Giant Manager Dusty Baker said.

Snow expected just the opposite.

“They’re an American League team,” he said. “You expect the three-run homers from them.”

Rich Aurilia extended the Giants’ lead in the eighth with a solo homer that left fielder Rusty Greer jumped for but missed--as a diving gray-haired fan snagged it. Greer pleaded fan interference with the umpires, but the home run was called.

Greer later said he thought he had a chance at the ball, but “I can’t say definitely I would have had it.”

Aurilia said he saw the replay, but thought fan interference was inconclusive.

“Hey, he [the fan] made a great catch,” Aurilia said. “It looked like he ran from quite a distance away and made a great catch.”

Shawn Estes (9-3), who hasn’t lost in six starts since June 10 against Seattle, gave up four runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. Alan Embree gave up a seventh-inning sacrifice fly to Greer, and Robb Nen worked the ninth for his 20th save in 25 chances.

The loss snapped a five-game Texas winning streak against left-handed starters.

Loaiza, who has shifted between the bullpen and the starting rotation this season, gave up five runs and eight hits in five-plus innings.