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--> --> Hernandez carries Giants over D-Backs SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Livan Hernandez pitched two-hit ball for seven innings Friday night and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0 for their sixth win in eight games. Ramon Martinez homered in the third inning as San Francisco took the opener of a key three-game series against the NL West leaders. Arizona beat the defending division champion Giants in five of their first six meetings this season. Baseball's top two home run hitters weren't factors in the outcome. Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with two walks to remain at 42 homers, while Luis Gonzalez - right behind Bonds with 37 homers - went 0-for-4. Instead, the night belonged to Hernandez (8-11), who had his most dominant start in a rocky season for the former World Series MVP. Hernandez led the majors in losses for much of the season's first half, losing nine of his first 13 decisions while struggling with conditioning and control. His conditioning hasn't improved much, but his breaking pitches are back in top form - as proven by the succession of slow grounders and lazy flies produced by Arizona's hitters. Hernandez retired Arizona's first 10 batters, and Mark Grace's two-out single in the fourth was the Diamondbacks' first hit. Just two runners reached second base against Hernandez, who walked two and struck out three. He got a standing ovation from the Pacific Bell Park crowd as he left the mound after the seventh, and another as he went back to the dugout when manager Dusty Baker recalled him from the on-deck circle for a pinch-hitter in the eighth. Felix Rodriguez and Aaron Fultz kept the shutout intact for San Francisco in the eighth. Robb Nen, pitching for the first time since Sunday, finished for his NL-leading 29th save in 34 chances. Matt Williams doubled with two outs in the ninth for the Diamondbacks' third hit. Nen retired Steve Finley on a grounder to end it. Neither starter allowed a hit until Martinez hit the first pitch of the third inning from Miguel Batista (5-6) into the left-field stands for his fourth homer of the season. Martinez, who drove in the tying run in San Francisco's 2-1 comeback victory over Colorado on Thursday night, also doubled. San Francisco put multiple runners on base in the fourth and fifth innings, but Batista escaped both jams with double plays. Batista, lifted for a pinch-hitter in the sixth, allowed three hits and three walks over five innings. The Diamondbacks fell to 4-5 on their current 11-game road trip with their fourth loss in six games. Arizona leads the Los Angeles Dodgers by 1 1/2 games, with the Giants 3 1/2 games back. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing