"I was like, wow, that's a big turnout,'" said Williams, the Waipahu High product who is making his home ballpark look a little more like Hawai'i with each of his starting assignments.

Williams pitched into the sixth inning — earning a standing ovation from a sellout crowd of 42,334 fans as he departed with a two-run lead and the bases loaded — but he was denied the victory when the Pittsburgh Pirates tied the game off reliever Matt Herges.

The surging San Francisco Giants, who keep finding different heroes each game, rallied back to win the game, 7-5, on a Jeffrey Hammonds' two-run home run in the seventh inning.

The sale of the $10 necklaces raised $28,000 for Big Bam!, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing medical care for women with breast cancer. The puka shell necklaces will be sold whenever Williams pitches.

"That's awesome," Williams said. "It's going to a good cause."

The cause is near to Williams' heart as his mother died from breast cancer in 2001.

The Reds requested Williams take off his puka shell necklace in his last start, but he was able to leave the necklace on the entire game yesterday.

"Right when I started, I heard some of the (Pittsburgh) guys over there trying to tell me to take it off," Williams said. "But the umpire said it was all right."

Williams didn't have his usual control in his 13th major-league start. He walked five, tying a career-high set during his major-league debut April 26 in Philadelphia.

Three of those walks came in the first two innings, but didn't cost him any runs.

The Pirates' first hit was by Jason Kendall, an infield single, in the third inning. Williams quickly erased him on a 3-6-1 double play as Williams hustled over to first base for the twin killing.

The Giants staked Williams to a lead with a four-run third inning off ex-Giant Ryan Vogelsong, a teammate of Williams in the minors.

Hammonds was hit by a pitch to score one run, J.T. Snow singled home two runs and Edgardo Alfonzo added an RBI single. Those four runs equaled what Williams received in his previous two starts combined.

But the lead was cut in half in the fourth. Randall Simon hit a one-out single and Jack Wilson hit a two-run home run into the left-field bleachers.

Another double play, this one after an infield popup, made quick work of the Pirates in the fifth.

Leading 5-2 in the sixth, Williams ran into trouble with a single by Brian Giles, a walk to Reggie Sanders and another single by Simon to score a run. He struck out Jose Hernandez on a changeup for the first out, then walked Wilson. That's when manager Felipe Alou went to his bullpen.

"He pitched pretty good," Alou said. "He's a young guy. We have to take whatever he gives us that is positive. Pittsburgh is still a tough offensive ballclub. They can hit with anybody.

"For the first time today, I saw him throw a number of pitches that he didn't get on top of."

Herges induced a soft roller by Abraham Nunez, but it had such a wicked spin he fumbled the ball. Everybody was safe and a run scored.

Pinch hitter Matt Stairs followed with a sacrifice fly that scored the tying run and prevented Williams from getting the win. Scott Eyre (1-1) earned the victory and closer Tim Worrell saved his 25th game.

"Jerome did a great job," Worrell said. "He gave us a chance to win."

Williams hasn't won in four starts, and it was the second time he departed with a lead the bullpen couldn't hold, but he's not getting too frustrated.