It’s a Rapp for Bonds as Giants Beat Angels

Three weeks ago, after the Angels reached double figures in yet another Jarrod Washburn start, the left-hander was asked why his team seemed to score so many runs when he was on the mound.

“I don’t know,” Washburn said. “Maybe they like me better.”

So, what do the Angels have against Pat Rapp? He’s a likable guy, a right-hander from Louisiana whose homespun sense of humor keeps things light in the clubhouse, but when it comes to backing Rapp, the Angels have been delinquent in their support.

Rapp pitched well enough to win again Tuesday night but came away a loser when the Angels mustered only two runs in a 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants before 36,422 at Pacific Bell Park.

Rapp, who fell to 1-7, gave up two earned runs on eight hits in seven innings and made only two glaring mistakes, one of which Barry Bonds belted for his major-league leading 33rd home run--putting him on a pace for 83 homers--in the first inning.

Rapp has given up only 14 earned runs in 43 2/3 innings of his last seven starts for a 2.89 earned-run average, lowering his overall ERA from 6.37 on May 1 to 4.44 Tuesday night.

But all he has to show for it is four losses and three no-decisions, because the Angels have scored only 15 runs in those seven games. The Angels have scored only 14 runs in Rapp’s seven losses.

“It’s unfortunate because he’s done such a great job for us,” Angel first baseman Scott Spiezio said. “Anyone who knows anything about baseball is not going to say Pat Rapp is 1-7, he’s a horrible pitcher. They’re gonna say he’s pitching great and is not getting any support.”

The Angels had a chance to take Rapp off the hook when Garret Anderson singled with one out in the ninth off Giant closer Robb Nen, took second on right fielder Armando Rios’ error and scored on Spiezio’s single, pulling the Angels within 3-2.

Wally Joyner, who had one hit in his previous 27 at-bats, stroked a pinch-hit single to right, moving Spiezio to third, but Nen struck out Jorge Fabregas to end the game for his 16th save.

Kirk Rueter, who entered with a 6.16 ERA, gave up one run on five hits in seven innings for the victory, furthering the Angels’ futility against soft-throwing left-handers.

And Bonds continued to shred opposing pitchers, especially Rapp. The Giant left fielder entered the game with a .500 career average (seven for 14) and two home runs against Rapp, and it took him only one pitch to pad those numbers Tuesday night.

With two outs in the first, Bonds hit a wicked liner that traveled just inside the right-field foul pole and landed into McCovey Cove, the bay beyond the right-field wall, for a 1-0 lead.

“It was a fastball up and in,” Rapp said, “but I didn’t really get it in. It got out quicker than I got in.”

That made Bonds the quickest player to reach 33 home runs in baseball history, his 64-game feat surpassing Mark McGwire, who needed 70 games to hit his first 33 home runs in 1998, the year the St. Louis Cardinal slugger shattered Roger Maris’ single-season record with 70 home runs.

It was also the 15th time a home run had splashed into McCovey Cove in Pacific Bell Park’s two-year history; 10 of those have been hit by Bonds.

“He’s incredible,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said of Bonds. “It seems like he’s not missing any mistakes, and he’s also hitting some good pitches. He’s a guy who is capable of reaching all those [home run] records. He’s a tremendous hitter anyway, but it seems like he’s as locked in as he’s ever been.”

The Giants added a run in the second when Benito Santiago doubled to left-center, took third on catcher Shawn Wooten’s passed ball and scored on Rueter’s single to center to make it 2-0.

Wooten’s homer to left--his fourth--came in the fifth inning pulled the Angels within 2-1, but the Giants answered in the bottom of the fifth when Calvin Murray lofted Rapp’s 0-and-2 hanging curve into the left-field seats for his second homer and a 3-1 lead.

Ramon Martinez and Bonds followed with singles, but Rapp pitched out of the jam, getting Jeff Kent to fly to center, Rios to pop to short and Rich Aurilia to pop to second.