Padres rebound from Giants' rally, win in 11

SAN FRANCISCO -- Matt Szczur wasn't in the San Diego Padres' starting lineup Friday night against the San Francisco Giants. But the game lasted long enough for Szczur to make an impact anyway, as the Padres captured a 12-9 decision.
Szczur's fourth hit, an 11th-inning single, broke a tie and launched the Padres on a three-run binge that finally stopped the plucky Giants. One of three Padres who finished a hit shy of the cycle, Szczur had two cracks at becoming the first substitute in history to accomplish the feat. He needed a home run, and with the Padres ahead by three in the eighth, he admitted to swinging for the fences.
"But in the 11th, I wasn't," Szczur added. "I was just trying to get on base and make things happen."
Szczur did just that. After squandering a three-run, ninth-inning lead, the Padres rose in the 11th against Giants right-hander George Kontos (0-4). Following Luis Torrens' sacrifice bunt, Szczur delivered his go-ahead hit. Jose Pirela -- who also needed a homer for the cycle -- and Carlos Asuaje added RBI singles, giving them four hits apiece. Héctor Sánchez added three knocks of his own, missing only a triple.

"You love the fight," said Padres manager Andy Green. "That's as resilient as we've been all year long. It was good at-bat after good at-bat."
Giants manager Bruce Bochy absolved Kontos from blame, citing the reliever's frequent activity. Bochy said he had hoped to avoid using Kontos, who has appeared in a team-high 46 games and needed a break. But as the game stretched on, the Giants had to alter their plans.
One out separated the Padres from a 9-6 victory. But the Giants rallied to even the score on Conor Gillaspie's sixth career pinch-hit home run, a two-run clout. Earlier, the Giants matched a season high with four first-inning runs before San Diego scored in six consecutive innings, the third through eighth.

"It's a shame we didn't find a way to win that ballgame," said Bochy, whose Giants are 37-61 overall but 29-16 when they score four or more runs.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Myers plays long ball: Before the late-inning dramatics, the evening's definitive moment belonged to Padres first baseman Wil Myers, who snapped a 6-6 tie in the seventh inning with his 18th homer of the season. It also was his third of the year at AT&T Park.

Sanchez slaps around Giants: Sanchez has said of the Giants that they are like "my brothers." Imagine how he might perform against his ex-teammates if he didn't like them. Sanchez has three homers in his last four games against the Giants, helping hike his career batting average against them to .478 (11-for-23) with 13 RBIs. His production in this game included a fourth-inning homer, a fifth-inning RBI double and a seventh-inning single.

QUOTABLE
"I started him yesterday and he didn't do anything, put him off the bench, and he gets four hits." -- Green, on Szczur

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Padres' 20 hits marked a season high. In the process, Asuaje, Pirela and Szczur all set career highs with their four-hit nights.
STAMMEN'S EARLY EXIT
Padres right-hander Craig Stammen held the Giants in check after starter Trevor Cahill's departure in the fourth. Stammen tossed 1 1/3 scoreless frames, then batted for himself in the top of the sixth. He walked and scored, then took the mound for the bottom of the inning, but he didn't throw a pitch. After being looked at by a team athletic trainer, Stammen left with a hamstring injury. The Padres believe it to be minor, and he'll be re-evaluated Saturday.

DEADLINE WATCH
Cahill did little to help his trade value Friday night. He allowed six runs (five earned) over 3 2/3 innings. And while more than half of his seven hits were of the seeing-eye variety, Cahill did himself no favors by throwing 43 of his 86 pitches outside of the zone.
"Early in the game, we cost Trevor a lot," said Padres manager Andy Green. "We didn't do much defensively behind him. We had opportunities to make big plays, didn't. He definitely wasn't sharp tonight, but we didn't do anything to help him."
Brandon Maurer, who surrendered the game-tying homer in the ninth, saw his stock fall with his first blown save in nearly a month. But fellow reliever Brad Hand -- who has drawn interest from across the Majors -- coolly struck out the side in the eighth.
WHAT'S NEXT
Padres:Luis Perdomo finished the first half strong, but opened the second half with a dud in Colorado earlier this week. After his shortest start in more than a year, Perdomo looks to get back on track against the Giants at 1:05 p.m. PT Saturday.
Giants: Left-hander Matt Moore will start Saturday's 1:05 p.m. PT contest at AT&T Park. San Francisco owns a 5-14 record in his starts, contrasting with the six wins he earned in his last eight outings down the stretch in 2016.
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