DOMINANT IN THE DESERT

Combination of youth, age delivers again against D'backs

Bruce Jenkins - San Francisco Chronicle

There's only one real way to measure the National League West, the traditional way, and that would be a decisive vote for first-place Arizona.

If you're talking about productivity against the weight of expectations, the Giants just might rank second, especially after their 11-3 thrashing of the Diamondbacks Wednesday night at Chase Field. You won't hear the Giants bragging about their 22-31 record, but a lot of other people in this division don't feel nearly as good about themselves.

The Dodgers, 3 1/2 games behind Arizona, are a .500 team that looks the part - gravely disappointing to the many observers who rated them so highly this spring. The third-place Giants have a two-game lead over the bafflingly weak Rockies, who went to the World Series last year, and a 2 1/2-game edge over a San Diego team losing more of its audience with every depressing loss.

Overstatement is risky business for the Giants, but they have been nothing short of dominant in the first two games of this series. In the wake of Tim Lincecum's victory Tuesday night, sparked by titanic homers off the bats of Bengie Molina and Jose Castillo, the Giants came back with their highest-scoring game of the year and a strong performance by left-hander Jonathan Sanchez.

It seemed to be a night primed for emotion in Arizona, with pitcher Doug Davis making his first home appearance after undergoing thyroid surgery. Then again, they don't do emotion terribly well around here. Chase Field is essentially a gigantic airplane hangar, roughly the size of Mars, housing a laid-back crowd rarely given to outbursts of any kind.

Davis, a Bay Area man all the way (Northgate High in Walnut Creek, then Diablo Valley College and City College of San Francisco), fits the scene appropriately with his deliberate, never-too-bothered style. It's a formula that generally works for him, but he caught the Giants in a hot streak - and Sanchez, who took a shutout into the sixth, had infinitely better command.

"He's just really growing as a pitcher," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He had it all going tonight, and aside from the command, he was very composed. It's great to see how poised he has become."

Some of the Giants' fans might be frustrated over the game plan to play so many veterans, but it has been a worthy tonic in Arizona. Ray Durham opened the scoring with a hooking, line-drive homer down the left-field line in the second. Molina, continuing to be the hottest hitter in either league, went 3-for-4 with two more RBIs. Aaron Rowand delivered a couple of run-scoring singles, and Durham came back with a roaring, three-run double in the sixth.

It wasn't all about the oldsters, though. With Omar Vizquel getting a breather, Emmanuel Burris started at shortstop and drilled a two-run single. There was also the noticeably steady rise of Fred Lewis, who seems to look more like a ballplayer by the day.

Bochy talked before the game about Lewis' ongoing baseball education, saying, "This is a guy who played football in college and is sort of learning along the way. I think he's really been impressive - hitting, defensively, on the bases. He's just getting better and better."

Lewis' night featured an opposite-field single, three walks and his ninth stolen base, and unless the Giants swing a deal involving Randy Winn, there's no sense yearning for outfield prospect Nate Schierholtz, who hit for the cycle in Fresno's game at Las Vegas on Monday night and raised his average over .300. The Giants want Schierholtz playing every day, and their outfield is rock-solid, at least for the moment, with Lewis, Rowand and Winn.

As for the standings, you wouldn't put 22-31 in the "solid" category. Sometimes these things are relative, though. If Barry Zito beats Randy Johnson tonight, the Giants will stand in defiance of every critic.

The power of 10

The Giants scored double digits Wednesday for the first time this year. The last time they scored 10 or more runs was in the 11-2 win over the Dodgers in the last game of last season. That leaves only the Royals without a game of 10 or more runs this year (Kansas City has scored nine four times).