All in all, it was a bittersweet return for Dave Dravecky.
The San Francisco Giants left-hander, who staged a remarkable comeback from cancer surgery on his pitching arm to win again in the majors last week, was dealt a season-ending injury Tuesday night.
Dravecky suffered a stress fracture of the humerus bone in the same arm while delivering a pitch in the Giant's 3-2 victory over the Montreal Expos.
Dravecky, after a 14-month absence from baseball, had returned last Thursday to a thunderous ovation at Candlestick Park. He hurled eight innings in a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
However, his inspiring return from surgery to remove a tumor from the deltoid muscle of his left arm ended in the sixth inning while making his first pitch to Tim Raines with the Giants leading 3-1.
"I heard the pop when he threw the pitch," Giants catcher Terry Kennedy said. "I knew what it was. His arm is broken."
The injury was a fracture of the bone that extends from the shoulder to the elbow, which is likely to sideline Dravecky for the rest of the season.
"He told me in the clubhouse before he went to the hospital that he could feel the bone moving. That operation made the bone brittle. I don't know what is better, to have a taste of honey or never to come back."
Dravecky immediately fell to the ground, clutching his left arm and grimacing in pain. He was removed from the field on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was X-rayed and examined by Expos team surgeon Dr. Larry Couglin.
"I have never seen anything like that since I have been in baseball," said an emotional San Francisco Manager Roger Craig. "He was pitching a four-hitter, and a one-hitter going into the fourth. He looked like the old Dave Dravecky.
Dravecky, 2-0, went five-plus innings for the victory, allowing two runs, four hits and three walks. Steve Bedrosian posted his 16th save.
The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning against Bryn Smith, 9-7. Pat Sheridan singled, moved to third on a single by Terry Kennedy and scored on Jose Uribe's fielder's choice.
The Giants made it 3-0 in the sixth when Will Clark singled and scored on Matt Williams' ninth home run.