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San Diego Padres claim road series with 5-2 victory over San Francisco Giants

By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange
San Diego Padres first baseman Wil Myers crosses home plate after a home run. File photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI
San Diego Padres first baseman Wil Myers crosses home plate after a home run. File photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI | License Photo

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Diego Padres have beaten the San Francisco Giants so often this season that the wins are starting to look alike.

Wil Myers homered for the third consecutive day, and Hector Sanchez capped a productive series against his former team with an RBI double in a four-run fourth inning, propelling the Padres to a 5-2 victory over the Giants on Sunday.

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Right-hander Dinelson Lamet pitched effectively into the seventh inning, striking out six, to help the Padres win their fourth consecutive series against the Giants by taking three of four.

"We still have a ton of respect for who they are, the players on the field and what they've done," Padres manager Andy Green said of the Giants. "We know at any point in time they could go reel off 10 or 12 (wins a row) and have a great run. We don't want that to start on us."

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Eduardo Nunez had three hits for the Giants, but his baserunning gaffe contributed to San Francisco's fourth loss in seven outings during their current 10-game homestand.

"It has gone on," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of the Padres' recent dominance of the Giants, which has reached 17 wins in 23 matchups since the 2016 All-Star break. "Some things are hard to explain. I wish I could."

Myers got the Padres rolling with a solo shot in the first inning against Giants left-hander Ty Blach (6-6). The homer was his 20th of the season and fifth in his past nine games at AT&T Park.

"One of the big things is just actually wanting to come here to play," Myers said of his success in San Francisco. "Last year, I kind of dreaded coming here because it's a pitchers' ballpark and they have great pitchers. One thing I did this year was just got excited to play here. It's the mindset you got to have if you want to play well."

After the Giants got even in the bottom of the first on a Buster Posey RBI single, the Padres took the lead for good with their four-run fourth that featured consecutive doubles by Hunter Renfroe, Jabari Blash and Sanchez.

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Cory Spangenberg capped the inning with an RBI single that made it 5-1.

The Padres also had a four-run fourth inning against Giants starter Matt Moore on Saturday.

"It's amazing how similar (those two starts) were," Bochy said. "You take that inning away -- you can't take that inning away -- and (Blach) throws a nice game."

Lamet (4-4) and the San Diego bullpen held on from there.

The Giants got within 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth on a run-scoring single by Gorkys Hernandez, then momentarily made things interesting in the seventh.

After Nunez's third single of the game ended Lamet's day, Blash dropped Brandon Belt's two-out fly ball to left, apparently bringing Posey to the plate as the potential tying run.

However, Nunez tried to take third on the play and was gunned down by Padres shortstop Allen Cordoba, who alertly scooped up the ball after it caromed off Blash's glove.

"Big mistake. I talked to him in the dugout. It can't happen," Bochy said. "He's an exciting player. Probably our best baserunner. He thought the ball was going to get caught. You can't do that.

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"But the damage was when he tried to restart again. We had Buster up next. With two outs, you shut it down (at second)."

The Giants could do no damage against the Padres' bullpen, with three relievers combining for 2 1/3 innings of hitless ball.

Left-hander Brad Hand worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.

Lamet held the Giants to two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings to snap a two-game losing streak. He walked just one and struck out six.

"It was really good," Green said of Lamet's start. "It's good to see him get to the seventh inning. Felt great about his outing."

Blach allowed five runs and eight hits in seven innings. He walked one and fanned seven.

Carlos Asuaje had two hits for the Padres, who are 9-4 against the Giants this season.

Making his second major league start, Miguel Gomez had a double and a single for the Giants, who lost for the 10th time in their past 14 games.

The Padres outhit the Giants 9-8.

NOTES: Padres 1B Wil Myers has five home runs at AT&T Park this season. Giants All-Star C Buster Posey has two. ... Padres C Hector Sanchez went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, making him 9-for-23 (.391) with four home runs and 11 RBIs in 13 games against the Giants, his former team, this season. ... The Padres reinstated CF Manuel Margot from the paternity list and demoted OF Franchy Cordero to Triple-A El Paso. ... The Padres return home Monday to begin a four-game series against the New York Mets. ... The Giants continue a 10-game homestand on Monday when they open a three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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