05/23/2006 3:20 AM ET Wright ices sizzling Cardinals Vizquel homers; Bonds singles, scores a run, drives in another By Rich Draper / MLB.com SAN FRANCISCO -- Finally, Jamey Wright is in the right town at the right ballpark with the right team at the right time. The 31-year-old right-hander has been long on promise but short on victories over seven big-league seasons, but AT&T Park was seemingly built to his specific specifications, including rather dense atmospheric conditions and spacious geometry designed as a pitching haven. Added to the ideal baseball blueprint for Wright is a team with explosive power -- you gotta love the run production -- and a phalanx of Gold Glovers guarding the field. Welcome to the team of your dreams, Jamey. Wright had a history of throwing well at the by-the-bay venue before joining the club over the winter, and he showed in his third straight victory that he can pitching with the elite of the league by vanquishing the streaking St. Louis Cardinals, 9-2, on Monday night. Wright, 5-3 with a getting-lower-every-outing 3.84 ERA, helped San Francisco to its sixth win in the last seven games and halted the Redbirds' five-game win skein with a sinker that defied gravity and defied the National League Central leaders to hit it. Coming soon to a lane near you, watch Wright and teammate Scott Munter duel for strikes and strikeouts with their famed "bowling ball" offerings, so dubbed by manager Felipe Alou and catcher Mike Matheny. "He has tremendous movement, movement that you can't teach, and great velocity ," said the veteran backstop, who watched as Wright held the Cardinals to six hits over eight innings, allowing only a second-frame run. No question, said Matheny, Wright's sinker is among the best in the game. "I don't look at the speed gun much, but I know it's hard and heavy, and sometimes it feels like a bowling ball," said Matheny. "It breaks a couple of different directions -- one's going to run right into the hitter and the other will fall out of the bottom. You mix that in with 92 to 95 [mph], there's not a whole lot of room to think of the physics [involved in] the swing path of the bat. "It's in and out of the zone so fast, it's hard to square up," said Matheny. Wright was 2-0 at the season's outset, then survived a four-game winless stretch that made observers wonder if he could recover his vaunted stuff, but he rebounded with two consecutive victories boosted by 23 Giants runs. "I had a good sinker and good cutter and got ahead of guys," said Wright, who left holding a 3-1 lead, prior to San Francisco's six-run uprising in the eighth, highlighted by Omar Vizquel's two-run homer. "No doubt about it," replied Wright when asked if his new club has the "Wright stuff" for his style of pitching. "I'm my biggest critic and I always expect big things out of myself every year. It hasn't worked out that way. "We're not into June yet and I'm not going to say I'm going to do this or do that, but I feel good about the way I'm throwing the ball and happy where I'm at right now." Wright says he's felt confidence ever since winning the fifth rotation spot in Spring Training and comes to the ballpark every day with a sense of elation. He toiled for six years at various times for the Colorado Rockies, who originally signed him but whose exploits were usually subpar, especially in opposing yards. Coors Field is hardly a bountiful place for hurlers, but AT&T Park is heaven. "The San Francisco jersey is nice," he said. "It feels good on you. We have a Gold Glove catcher and guys to field ground balls and give us a chance to win. " The Giants, now 24-21 and trailing the NL West-leading Diamondbacks by only 1 1/2 games, produced nine runs on eight hits, with Barry Bonds contributing a first-inning single and third-frame RBI groundout. He did not homer, but Vizquel muscled a four-bagger into the right-field arcade in the eighth, his third of the season. "Three-two count, a guy throwing hard, I wanted to put a good swing on the ball," said Vizquel. "I was looking for a fastball, got it, and hit it well. Finally. When you have a 3-2 count against a little guy, you don't want to walk him, so you challenge him. I put a good swing on the ball." Rich Draper is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. -- 问我为何住西子湾头 只因沧海是我的邻居 余光中 作 --

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