3RD STRAIGHT GAME WITH WALK-OFF HR IS FATAL FOR GIANTS
Cabrera's 2-Run Blast Gives Pads 'W'
SAN DIEGO, Apr. 18 (AP) - Everth Cabrera's two-run walk-off homer in the bottom
of the ninth inning capped a three-run rally as the San Diego Padres defeated
the San Francisco Giants 6-5 at Petco Park. Remarkably, it was the third
consecutive Giants tilt to feature a walk-off home run. San Francisco had
won the previous two games--played at AT&T Park against the Los Angeles
Dodgers--but the third time definitely was not the charm.
The Giants got off to a sloppy start, allowing three runs in the bottom of the
first inning, in large part due to a pair of errors. After Padres starter
Tyson Ross pitched a scoreless top of the frame, Everth Cabrera opened the home
half by reaching on Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval's two-base throwing
error. Chris Denorfia was next and his routine ground ball to shortstop
Brandon Crawford was kicked for another miscue, putting runners on first and
third with no outs. San Francisco starter Matt Cain then surrendered a
three-run homer to Seth Smith. The ball hit high on the foul pole screen
in right and gave San Diego a 3-0 lead.
Cain regrouped and held the Padres scoreless through the remainder of his stint
on the mound, which extended through the fifth inning. Ross shut the
Giants out through five as well, but in the top of the sixth, San Francisco
rallied. With one out, Joaquin Arias pinch hit for Cain and singled to
left. Angel Pagan followed with a base hit to center, putting runners on
first and second. Ross fanned Gregor Blanco--Ross' ninth strikeout of the
game to that point--bringing Brandon Belt to the plate. Ross hung a 2-2
change-up and Belt unloaded, depositing the ball in the seats in right-center
for a game-tying three-run homer.
At that point, all the momentum seemed to swing in the favor of the
Giants. They rallied to take the lead in the seventh. Facing
reliever Nick Vincent, Hector Sanchez drew a one-out walk and scored one out
later on Michael Morse's base hit, making the score 4-3. And Hunter
Pence's solo homer in the top of the ninth off Tim Stauffer added an insurance
run.
A string of San Francisco relievers held the Padres off the scoreboard beginning
in the sixth inning and Giants manager Bruce Bochy handed the ball to Sergio
Romo to close out the game with a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth.
Things started off innocently enough with Alexi Amarista flying to center for
the first out. But Rene Rivera drilled a 1-0 pitch over the left field
fence to cut the deficit to 5-4. Nick Hundley then pinch hit for Stauffer
and lined a single to center, bringing Cabrera to the plate representing the
winning run. Romo hung a 1-0 change and Cabrera deposited it in the right
field grandstand for a two-run home run and a 6-5 Padres victory.
It was quite an about face for the Giants. On April 16, Crawford broke a
1-1 tie with the Dodgers with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the 12th
off Chris Perez. On April 17, Pence snapped a one-all deadlock with a
lead-off home run in the bottom of the ninth off Chris Withrow.
4/18/2014, SF14-SD14, PETCO Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2014 Giants 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 5 6 2 4 4 2014 Padres 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 9 1 6 0 Giants AB R H BI AVG Padres AB R H BI AVG Pagan cf 4 1 1 0 .306 Cabrera,E ss 5 2 1 2 .262 Blanco,G lf 3 0 0 0 .250 Denorfia rf 4 1 1 0 .195 Belt 1b 4 1 1 3 .238 Smith,S lf 2 1 2 3 .104 Sandoval 3b 4 0 0 0 .281 Gyorko 2b 4 0 0 0 .175 Pence rf 4 1 1 1 .297 Venable cf 1 0 0 0 .180 Sanchez,H c 3 1 0 0 .143 Medica ph 0 0 0 0 .250 Crawford,B ss 3 0 0 0 .157 Alonso 1b 4 0 1 0 .296 Adrianza 2b 4 0 1 0 .167 Amarista 3b 4 0 1 0 .182 Cain,M p 1 0 0 0 .400 Rivera c 4 1 1 1 .208 Arias ph 1 1 1 0 .258 Ross,T p 2 0 0 0 .000 Lopez,J p 0 0 0 0 .000 Vincent p 0 0 0 0 .000 Gutierrez p 0 0 0 0 .000 Grandal ph 1 0 1 0 .259 Morse ph 1 0 1 1 .308 Thayer p 0 0 0 0 .000 Casilla,S p 0 0 0 0 .000 Stauffer p 0 0 0 0 .000 Affeldt p 0 0 0 0 .000 Hundley ph 1 1 1 0 .385 Posey ph 1 0 0 0 .196 32 6 9 6 Romo p 0 0 0 0 .000 33 5 6 5 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Cain,M 5.0 4 3 1 3 5 94 64 6.10 Lopez,J 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 10 7 0.00 Gutierrez 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1.35 Casilla,S H 3 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 13 9 1.35 Affeldt H 1 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 13 7 0.00 Romo BS 1, L 0-1 0.1 3 3 3 0 0 12 7 5.06 8.1 9 6 4 4 7 145 96 Padres INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Ross,T 6.0 3 3 3 1 10 105 64 3.65 Vincent 1.0 2 1 1 1 2 24 16 1.42 Thayer 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 11 6 2.25 Stauffer W 1-0 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 22 14 9.95 9.0 6 5 5 3 13 162 100 SF : Arias batted for Cain,M in the 6th Morse batted for Gutierrez in the 7th Posey batted for Affeldt in the 9th SD : Grandal batted for Vincent in the 7th Medica batted for Venable in the 8th Denorfia moved to cf in the 9th Smith,S moved to rf in the 9th Medica moved to lf in the 9th Hundley batted for Stauffer in the 9th E-Sandoval, Crawford,B, Alonso. HR-Belt(5), Pence(3), Cabrera,E(1), Smith,S(1), Rivera(1). RBI-Belt 3(9), Pence(6), Morse(6), Cabrera,E 2(8), Smith,S 3(5), Rivera(1). SB-Blanco,G(1), Alonso(1). K-Blanco,G, Belt 2, Sandoval 2, Pence 3, Sanchez,H, Crawford,B 2, Cain,M, Posey, Cabrera,E, Denorfia, Gyorko 2, Amarista, Rivera, Ross,T. BB-Blanco,G, Sanchez,H, Crawford,B, Smith,S 2, Venable 2. HBP-Medica. HB-Affeldt. GWRBI: Cabrera,E Temperature: 66, Sky: cloudy, Wind: left to right at 13 MPH. Attendance: 25,529 Game Time: 2:59