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 Cuban import Odrisamer Despaigne blanked the Giants on two hits
over seven innings and the San Diego Padres struck for four runs in
the first as they defeated San Francisco 5-0.
The Giants got only three hits and five baserunners against
Despaigne and three relievers.
San Francisco's loss, combined with the Dodgers' 14-5 win over the
Cubs, dropped the Giants 3 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the race
for the National League West title. The Giants, who have nine games
to play, still lead the National League wild-card race.
"That first inning, he just got the ball up," manager Bruce Bochy
said of Giants starter Tim Hudson (9-12). "He had two outs there. If
he had gotten out of that, I think he throws a nice game."
And Hudson almost did.
Padres shortstop Alexi Amarista put the Padres on the board with a
bases-loaded, two-out, full-count double for the first two Padres
runs in the first. Center fielder Cameron Maybin immediately
followed with a two-run single.
"The first inning was tough," continued Bochy. "We get two outs and
give up four runs. But that wasn't the whole story. We couldn't do
anything offensively. We had a tough time getting anything going."
Despaigne, a 27-year-old right-hander, continued his mastery of the
Giants and extended his domination at Petco Park. He issued one walk
-- to Giants' center fielder Angel Pagan to open the game -- and
struck out seven.
Despaigne (4-7), who made his major league debut on June 23 in San
Francisco, is 2-0 against the Giants with a 0.45 earned run average
over three starts. Despaigne has allowed the Giants one run on eight
hits and five walks with nine strikeouts in 20 innings.
At Petco Park, Despaigne is 3-1 with a 1.83 ERA in seven starts.
Against all other teams, Despaigne is 2-7 with a 4.13 ERA. On the
road he is 1-6 with a 5.31 ERA.
Despaigne retired nine straight Giants after walking Pagan to open
the game. But his bid for a no-hitter ended when Giants second
baseman Joe Panik doubled to open the fourth -- although the Giants
didn't get their second hit until Panik singled with two out in the
sixth.
The pitcher and Padres manager Bud Black had slightly different
opinions of how he blanked the Giants.
"My fastball command was good," said Despaigne through an
interpreter. "I was very comfortable with my fastball and curve. And
the early lead made it more comfortable for me."
Black, however, thought Despaigne didn't have his greatest stuff.
"He was behind in a lot of counts and on the edge," said the
manager. "A lot of times, he was one pitch away from a walk. The
ball-strike ratio wasn't great (54 strikes in 98 pitches). He was
not pounding the strike zone. But he got out of things at the end.
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"When you look back at it from the pitcher's eye, I can say, 'Hey
man, great job.' He's very savvy with a lot of guile. He got a lot
of outs on slow curves and cut fastballs. He threw enough strikes to
keep them thinking."
The Padres put the Giants in a quick hole by scoring four in the
first.
Third baseman Yangervis Solarte opened the game with a single off
Hudson. With one out, second baseman Jedd Gyorko singled (extending
his career-best hitting streak to 10 straight games) and catcher
Yasmani Grandal drew a walk to load the bases. Hudson retired left
fielder Seth Smith on a fly to short right for the second out --
with Solarte being forced to hold at third.
"The pitch that Smith hit, Seth would probably like to have that one
back," said Black.
But Amarista drove a double to right-center, scoring Solarte and
Gyorko -- and giving Amarista 10 RBIs in his last seven games.
Maybin followed with a two-run single, his fifth hit in his last
seven at-bats.
A two-base throwing error by Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval on
a grounder hit by Gyorko opening the third led to the Padres' fifth
run. Gyorko scored his second run on a one-out double by Smith.
Hudson allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks
with two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He has lost three straight
decisions and has a 10.47 ERA in four September starts.
Tim Lincecum, who threw his second no-hitter against the Padres in
less than a year earlier this season, struck out two in two perfect
innings of relief.
NOTES: 1B Brandon Belt returned to the Giants' starting lineup
Friday for the first time since Aug. 6. He had missed 49 of the last
54 games because of a concussion and post-concussion problems. ...
CF Angel Pagan was back in the Giants' lineup after missing three
starts with back stiffness. ... SS Trea Turner, the Padres'
first-round pick in the June draft (13th overall), took batting
practice and fielded grounders with the Padres on Friday afternoon.
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