SAN FRANCISCO, May 14 (UPI) -- Chris Hammond walked in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning Monday night as the San Francisco Giants edged the Atlanta Braves, 7-6, in the opener of a four-game series.
Hammond (1-2) started the 11th, and retired Tsuyoshi Shinjo on a groundout. But Ramon Martinez singled and Rich Aurilia hit a ground-rule double that bounced out of the reach of leftfielder Chipper Jones.
After Barry Bonds was intentionally walked for the second time, Jeff Kent fouled off two pitches to work the count full before Hammond threw a ball to plate the winning run.
The Giants took a 6-4 lead into the ninth inning, but closer Robb Nen allowed four singles as an earthquake jostled Northern California just after 10 p.m. Pacific Time. Vinny Castilla singled in Gary Sheffield before Andruw Jones scored the tying run on a single by Javy Lopez.
The earthquake, which was measured at 5.2, was centered south of San Jose in Gilroy, Calif.
Bonds belted his 13th home run, a two-run shot in the third inning, and Tom Goodwin had two hits and two RBI for the Giants, who at 24-13, are off to their best start since 1973.
Tim Worrell (3-0), the fifth San Francisco pitcher, yielded two hits and struck out one in the 11th for the win.
Lopez collected three hits and two RBI and Mark DeRosa added two hits and drove in two runs for the Braves, who dropped the opener of a nine-game road trip and fell to 8-9 away from home.
