San Diego Padres vs San Francisco Giants Box Score on Jul 21, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jul 22, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO -- The fourth hits of the game by Matt Szczur, Jose Pirela and Carlos Asuaje drove in runs in the11th inning Friday night, delivering the San Diego Padres a 12-9 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Wil Myers and Hector Sanchez homered for the Padres, who have prevailed in eight of their last 11 games against the Giants and seven of their last eight visits to AT&T Park.

Hunter Pence had three hits and two RBIs for the Giants, who led 4-0, 5-1 and 6-2 at different stages of the first four innings.

Hunter Renfroe greeted right-hander George Kontos (0-4), the seventh Giants pitcher, with a single to open the 11th.

After a walk to Erick Aybar and Luis Torrens' sacrifice bunt, Szczur drove a 3-1 pitch into left field to score Renfroe and break a 9-9 tie.

Pirela and Asuaje followed with consecutive singles, creating a three-run cushion for right-hander Phil Maton (2-0), who worked the final two innings.

The Giants were one out from defeat, trailing 9-6 in the ninth, before pinch-hitter Conor Gillaspie capped a three-run rally with a two-run, pinch-hit home run off Padres closer Brandon Maurer.

Buster Posey had drawn a two-out walk and eventually scored on a single by Brandon Crawford to set the stage for Gillaspie, whose pinch-homer was the fifth of his career.

Maurer had converted his previous 15 save opportunities.

Earlier, the Padres rallied from three four-run deficits with extra-base power, using three doubles, three triples and two home runs to take a 9-6 lead.

Myers' home run, a solo shot, off the Giants' fourth pitcher, right-hander Hunter Strickland, broke a 6-6 tie in the seventh inning.

The Padres then tacked on two runs in the eighth on back-to-back triples by Szczur and Pirela and a single by Asuaje, creating the three-run advantage the Giants erased in the ninth.

Three Padres came within one hit of a cycle in a 20-hit attack, including Szczur, who entered the game in a double-switch in the fifth inning. He struck out in the ninth inning and singled in the 11th after having had a double, single and triple in his first three at-bats.

Sanchez flied out in the eighth inning and struck out in the 10th needing a triple for a cycle. His first three hits included a solo homer, his seventh of the season, in the fourth inning against Giants starter Jeff Samardzija.

Pirela, like Szczur, finished with two singles, a double and a triple, extending his hitting streak to nine games along the way.

Asuaje's four hits were all singles for the Padres.

Gorkys Hernandez and Crawford had two singles apiece in an 11-hit attack for the Giants, who have lost 16 of 21 against the Padres since the 2016 All-Star break.

Neither starting pitcher made it through five innings.

Despite getting staked to a four-run lead in the first, which became 5-1 in the third and 6-2 in the fourth, Samardzija gave way to the bullpen in the middle of a three-run Padres uprising in the fifth.

Pirela had an RBI single and Sanchez a run-scoring double, the latter ending Samardzija's night with the Giants clinging to a 6-4 lead.

Cory Spangenberg's run-scoring infield out against Josh Osich closed the gap to 6-5, before Cory Gearrin stranded the potential tying run at third base.

Samardzija allowed five runs and eight hits in his 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.

He surrendered Sanchez's home run, a solo shot, in the fourth inning.

Padres starter Trevor Cahill didn't make it even as far as his rival. He was pulled with two outs in the fourth, having allowed six runs (five earned) and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out one.

Pence's first hit, an RBI double, highlighted the Giants' four-run first.

NOTES: Padres C Hector Sanchez improved to 11-for-23 (.478) with five home runs and 13 RBIs against the Giants, one of his former teams. Sanchez's home run was his fourth against the Giants this season. ... Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced before the game that LF/1B Michael Morse (concussion), who was injured in his club's brawl with the Washington Nationals in May, has returned to his home in Florida to ponder retirement. ... Padres CF Manuel Margot (paternity list) witnessed the birth of his son, Diamond, on Thursday. He is expected to rejoin the team this weekend.