San Francisco Giants Drop Another 1-Run Decision, 2-1 At San Diego
By Phil Watson
Apr 18, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt (9) celebrates with third base coach Tim Flannery (1) after a solo home run during the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
The San Francisco Giants played their third straight 2-1 game and their eighth consecutive game decided by one run, losing to the San Diego Padres 2-1 at Petco Park in San Diego Friday night.
The Giants (10-7) are 4-4 in those one-run games and have dropped two in a row. On a night when catcher Buster Posey took a night off to rest, not having him behind the plate made an immediate impact.
San Diego (8-9) scored in the bottom of the first when Chris Denorfia lined a one-out triple to right field and, one out later, starter Matt Cain (0-3) walked Jedd Gyorko. Ball four got away from backup catcher Hector Sanchez, allowing Denorfia to score the game’s first run.
That was all the Padres would get off Cain, who allowed just the unearned run on four hits and two walks while striking out eight in seven innings. It was by far his best start of the season, lowering his ERA to 2.88.
The Padres got an insurance run in the eighth off reliever J.C. Gutierrez that would turn out to be huge, however. Yasmani Grandal led off the inning batting for starter Tyson Ross and took a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right field for his first homer of the season.
The Giants attempted a rally in the ninth. Brandon Belt hit his sixth homer of the season—tied with Mark Trumbo of Arizona for the National League lead—with one out in the inning off closer Huston Street and after slumping Pablo Sandoval struck out, Hunter Pence walked and stole second. But Sanchez struck out swinging to end it.
Ross (2-2) had the Giants flailing at air all night, striking out nine in eight shutout innings while allowing only four hits and a walk. Street got his sixth save despite giving up the homer to Belt.
Angel Pagan continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with a double to raise his average to .385, and Belt was also 2-for-4. But the rest of the lineup combined to go 1-for-27 and San Francisco was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Michael Morse also took the night off, with Gregor Blanco getting the start in left field, and Ehire Adrianza—after going 3-for-3 against the Dodgers Thursday—started at second base, but was 0-for-2 before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth.
The series continues Saturday evening, with a 5:40 p.m. start scheduled. Tim Hudson (2-0, 2.35 ERA) is slated to start for the Giants against left-hander Eric Stults (0-2, 5.52 ERA). The game can be seen in the Bay Area on Comcast Sports Net Bay Area, with the game also being carried by KNBR 680 AM and KTRB 860 AM.