PADS HELD TO 1 HIT, STILL EARN 'W'
Cain Walks 4 Straight in Pivotal 4th Inning
SAN DIEGO, July 4 (AP) - The San Diego Padres managed only one hit, but still eked out a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a sellout Independence Day crowd at Petco Field. It was the 18th time this major league season that a team has been one-hit, but the first time a club has won a game in which it was held to a single safety. The Padres are now 1-4 in such games; while San Diego has been one-hit five times, no other big league team has been one-hit more than twice.
The Giants wasted a strong start by Matt Cain, who suffered through a control lapse in the bottom of the fourth. That was also the frame in which the Padres picked up their only hit of the contest.
Padres starter Eric Stults entered the game having lost his last seven decisions; his only previous win came in his second start of the season, back on April 9. In his last two starts, against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, Sutlts allowed 14 runs (all earned) in just 9-1/3 innings of work. But he snapped his losing streak, holding the Giants to a single run over 5-2/3 innings. The San Diego bullpen took over from there.
Cain and Stults matched scoreless frames until the bottom of the fourth. Seth Smith opened that inning for the Padres by lining a double off the base of the wall in the right field corner for San Diego's first--and only--hit. Cain seemed to come completely unnerved, successively walking Chase Headley, Carlos Quentin, Yasmani Grandal and Tommy Medica. When the dust cleared, two runs had scored and the bases were loaded with no one out. The Giants had their bullpen working feverishly and pitching coach Dave Righetti had already visited the mound in the midst of the meltdown. One more visit that inning, presumably made by manager Bruce Bochy, would have ended Cain's day. But Cain pulled himself out of the jam without allowing any further damage. He induced Cameron Maybin to ground into a 3-2-3 double play and then struck out Brooks Conrad to end the inning. San Francisco trailed, but it was only 2-0.
Stults scattered three hits over the first five frames and walked no one, but ran into trouble in the sixth when the Giants finally dented home plate. Hunter Pence opened the frame for the Giants by lining a double to left-center and Stults then hit Brandon Belt with a 1-2 pitch to put runners on first and second with no one out. The Padres bullpen began to stir as Stults recorded the first out of the inning--a long fly to left off the bat of Buster Posey, which allowed Pence to tag and advance to third. Pablo Sandoval then blooped a single just out of the reach of three Padres defenders and just inside the right field foul line, plating Pence and advancing Belt to third. It was now 2-1. Stults came up big and fanned Michael Morse for the second out of the inning. Padres manager Bud Black then went to his bullpen, calling on right-hander Blaine Boyer, who struck out Joaquin Arias for the final out of the inning.
The relief corps for San Diego was exceptional. Boyer, Dale Thayer and Huston Street combined to retire all 10 batters they faced, slamming the door on any would-be Giants comeback.
After the walk festival in the fourth, Cain was utterly flawless, retiring 11 batters in a row before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the eighth. Jeremy Affeldt pitched the bottom of the eighth for San Francisco and set the Padres down in order, but Street entered the game in the top of the ninth and handled the Giants with ease, striking out two of the three batters he faced.
7/4/2014, 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 1
0 0 0 1 5 0 5 2
2014 Padres
0 0 0 2 0 0
0 0 x 2 1 0 2 0
Giants
AB R H BI AVG
Padres AB R
H BI AVG
Pence
rf 4 1 1 0 .266
Smith,S rf 4 1
1 0 .271
Belt
1b 3 0 0 0 .230
Headley 3b 1 1
0 0 .216
Posey
c 4 0 0 0 .286
Quentin lf 2 0
0 0 .129
Sandoval
3b 4 0 2 1 .248
Falu 2b 0 0
0 0 .273
Morse
lf 3 0 0 0 .255
Grandal c 2 0
0 1 .200
Colvin
ph 1 0 0 0 .245
Medica 1b 2 0
0 1 .228
Arias
2b 3 0 1 0 .204
Maybin cf 3 0
0 0 .211
Blanco,G
ph 1 0 0 0 .242
Conrad 2b 3 0
0 0 .000
Crawford,B
ss 3 0 0 0 .238
Thayer p 0 0 0 0
.000
Perez,J
cf 3 0 1 0 .293
Street p 0 0
0 0 .000
Cain,M
p 3 0 0 0 .263
Amarista ss 3 0 0
0 .182
Affeldt
p 0 0 0 0 .000
Stults p 2 0
0 0 .043
32 1 5
1 Boyer
p 0 0 0 0 .000
Denorfia
rf 1 0 0 0 .222
23 2 1 2
Giants
INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Cain,M
L 4-7 7.0 1
2 2 5 7 119 64 5.22
Affeldt
1.0 0 0 0 0 1 16 10 1.61
8.0 1 2 2 5 8 135
74
Padres
INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Stults
W 2-8 5.2 5
1 1 0 4 80 53 6.30
Boyer
H 2 1.1
0 0 0 0 1 12 11 2.89
Thayer
H 6 1.0 0
0 0 0 0 10 7 4.04
Street
S 22 1.0 0
0 0 0 2 12 8 2.08
9.0 5 1 1 0 7 114
79
SF : Colvin batted
for Morse in the 9th
Blanco,G batted for Arias in the 9th
SD : Smith,S moved
to lf in the 8th
Falu inserted at 2b in the 8th
Denorfia inserted at rf in the 8th
2B-Pence(13),
Arias(4), Perez,J(5), Smith,S(22). RBI-Sandoval(30),
Grandal(18),
Medica(7). K-Sandoval 2, Morse 3, Arias, Colvin, Smith,S,
Headley, Grandal,
Maybin 2, Conrad, Stults, Denorfia. BB-Headley 2, Quentin,
Grandal, Medica.
HBP-Belt. HB-Stults.
GWRBI: Grandal
Temperature: 76,
Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: left to right at 5 MPH.
Attendance: 43,017
Game Time: 2:32