=== San Francisco Giants Team Report - May 27 ===

(My Sportsbook) - It wasn't that long ago that the baseball world was marveling at the 13-1 start by San Francisco. Now the Giants are worried that their hold on the National League West could be gone.

Yesterday the squad was handed a 12-7 setback by the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, the team's second straight loss and the third in the last four outings. Overall the Giants have gained victories in just five of the last 16 games, allowing the Los Angeles Dodgers to tie them for the division lead.

Ruben Rivera slammed a two-run homer and Pedro Feliz added a solo shot for the Giants, who have dropped six of their last nine contests. Neifi Perez chipped in three hits for San Francisco in the losing effort as well.

Reliever Joe Nathan suffered the loss after surrendering four runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings. Giants' starting pitcher Kirk Rueter yielded six runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

San Francisco was again without slugger Barry Bonds, who missed his third straight game with mild tendinitis in his right knee. Bonds is not expected back in the lineup until at least Wednesday.

Also on the injury front, second baseman Ray Durham was activated from the 15- day disabled list and went 0-for-1 on Monday. He appeared as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and stayed in the game.

Jason Schmidt will throw for San Francisco tonight as it opens a brief two- game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks at home. The righthander threw a four- hit shutout in Arizona last Wednesday. He is 1-0 over his last two outings and has struck out 21 while issuing just two walks in that time, a span of 15 2/3 innings. San Francisco is 8-1 in his starts this year, including 4-0 at Pac Bell Park.

Schmidt is 4-6 lifetime versus Arizona.

San Francisco, which begins a 12-game homestand tonight at Pacific Bell Park where it is 16-9, took two of three games last week at Bank One Ballpark versus Arizona and has captured five of the previous six meetings. The Giants have won three in a row at home over the D'Backs.

Catcher Benito Santiago has a nine-game hitting streak and is batting .410 (16-for-39) in that span. The Giants as a team are tied for third in the NL in batting at .269, a number that reaches .282 at Pac Bell.