Wild Win Gives Friars Wild Card Edge

The San Diego Padres pulled out a remarkable and memorable 6-4 victory in San Francisco on Tuesday night. The Friars put up 4 runs with 2 outs in the 9th to climb 1 game ahead in the wild card standings.

Following a 2 out RBI bloop single by Brady Clark (scoring Khalil Greene who doubled down the 3rd base line to lead off the inning), and a walk by Oscar Robles, struggling right fielder Brian Giles drilled a 2-0 fastball over the right center field wall for a game winning 3 run blast. This is, without a doubt, the biggest hit of the season for the Padres who were within 1 out of dropping their 5th straight game and into a 3 way tie in the wild card standings.

This game had the look and feel of many others n the past week until the 6th when a 1 out homer by Scott Hairston sparked the club. After Hairston smashed the Matt Cain offering to the seats in left, he flipped his bat and made his way around the bases; the bat toss got to the Giants starter as Cain chirped at Hairston the entire 360 feet around the infield. After the conclusion of the 6th Cain glared into the Pads dugout which seemed to anger a few players including last night's starter Chris Young and Brett Tomko who was toeing the rubber on Tuesday. The Friars continued to chip away at the Giants lead with a solo shot by Greene in the 7th. It seemed that the Friars saw their best opportunity pass them by in the 8th when Scott Hairston and Adrian Gonzalez struck out with 2 on. Enter Brian Giles in the 9th and the rest, as they say, is Padres History. Trevor Hoffman coaxed the Giants catcher Molina into a game ending double play to earn his 41st save of the season.

Standings:
The Padres picked up a game on the Phillies who lost to Atlanta 10-6 to take a 1 game lead in the wild card with just 5 games left. The victory also kept them 1 game ahead of the white hot Colorado Rockies who beat the Dodgers in route to their 9th consecutive W. San Diego gained ground on the NL West leading Dbacks who fell to the Pirates, who won for the first time in their last 10 contests. If the Padres end up in a tie with Arizona, the Diamondbacks will win the division crown based on their head to head record (much like the Pads over the Dodgers last year).


Too Early To Say Goodnight:
TV cameras picked up Matt Cain (on the bench) waving good-bye after Hairston took strike three on the inside corner in the 8th. The Giles bomb in the 9th waved adios to what would have been a Matt Cain victory, too bad.