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--> --> Williams almost gets beaned after three hits in rout of Giants SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Matt Williams got three hits, scored three runs and exchanged insults with Giants manager Dusty Baker during a bench-clearing scuffle Sunday as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat San Francisco 12-4. Mark Grace homered and tripled, driving in three runs as the Diamondbacks pounded San Francisco's pitching staff yet again. Arizona took two of three from its NL West rivals with 21 runs on 25 hits in the final two games of the series. But the real fireworks came in the sixth inning, when Giants left-hander Chad Zerbe was ejected for throwing a pitch behind Williams. After Williams and Zerbe had words as the teams met on the field, there was a confrontation between Williams and Baker, who managed Williams in San Francisco from 1993-96. Giants coaches intervened between the two, and no punches were thrown. But it was an ugly moment capping two ugly days for San Francisco's playoff hopes. The Diamondbacks, who took an 8-0 lead early Sunday, have won five of six at Pacific Bell Park this season, and seven of nine overall against the defending division champs. Barry Bonds, leading the majors with 42 homers, went 0-for-3 with a foul popup and two fly balls. He has three homers in his past 23 games, dropping one homer behind the record-setting pace set by Mark McGwire in 1998. Bonds, tied with Mickey Mantle for 10th place on baseball's career homers list with 536, hasn't homered in four games after hitting two on Wednesday night. Brian Anderson (3-6), who won for the first time since May 22, retired San Francisco's first 12 hitters. His flawless streak ended abruptly when Jeff Kent, Eric Davis and Benito Santiago hit consecutive homers on six pitches from Anderson to lead off the fifth inning. Anderson recovered to pitch eight solid innings, allowing four runs on six hits to snap his three-game losing streak. The Diamondbacks made short work of Giants left-hander Kirk Rueter (9-7), who allowed 10 hits and eight runs in four-plus innings to lose for the first time since he did May 26. After Luis Gonzalez and Williams hit back-to-back doubles in the first, Grace extended his hitting streak to nine games with a two-run homer. Grace's homer was the first of his career against Rueter, who clearly had none of his usual stuff. But with four games in Colorado starting on Monday, Baker desperately didn't want to overwork his bullpen. Rueter stayed in the game, allowing three more runs in the third inning - two on Danny Bautista's RBI single. Arizona got two more against Rueter in the fifth, when Grace tripled to drive home Williams. After Rueter finally left the game to a smattering of boos, Grace scored on Bautista's double-play grounder. Damian Miller added a two-run homer for Arizona in the seventh inning. Notes: In the first inning, Santiago used his famed arm strength to throw out Craig Counsell from his knees as Counsell tried to steal second base. ... Giants 1B J.T. Snow left the game in the fifth inning with the flu. ... The crowd of 41,901 was the largest in Pac Bell Park's history, since the Giants are still tinkering with the seating capacity of their 2-year-old park. 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