It was as simple as a pitch that didn't do what Padres' ace Jake Peavy wanted it to do, instead it stayed over the plate and Giants' short stop Edgar Renteria hit it out for a grand slam home run that led the Giants to an 8-3 win over the Padres.
The grand slam was the first ever given up by Peavy in his seven year career, but it was the the knockout punch delivered to San Diego.
Renteria had Peavy's number all night long, collecting three hits including a home run and five RBI's, raising is batting average to .455 against the Padres' right-hander.
San Diego took an early 2-1 lead in the top half of the fourth thanks to an RBI single from right-fielder Brian Giles in the first and an RBI double from Kevin Kouzmanoff in the fourth, Chase Headley was tagged out at the plate attempting to score on Kouzmanoff's double and you may look at that point in the game as a turning point.
Had Headley stayed at third, they may have had another chance to get him across to push the lead to 3-1, possibly giving Jake a little more breathing room and that big fourth inning for the Giants may not have happened.
But, as it stands now, Peavy will drop to 2-2 on the season. He would pitch six innings, giving up six runs on seven hits walking three and striking out three.
On the Giants' side of things, Matt Cain finally gets a win against the Padres, his first since 2006. Not saying he hasn't pitched well enough against San Diego for a win, but his bullpen has erased the leads he's turned over and he's ended up with either a no decision or a loss. Cain moves to 2-0 on the season after giving up just two runs on nine hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out five through his six innings of work.
If there is a silver lining in this game for San Diego, it's the fact that they can thank the Houston Astros for breaking the Dodgers' eight-game win streak. Not that that really matters this early in the season, but the closer they can keep the Dodgers in their sights, the better chance they have in staying in the NL West race.
The Giants and Padres will finish their two-game set this evening from SBC Park. The Giants will have Barry Zito (0-2, 10.00 ERA) on the mound while the Padres are hoping their number two man, Chris Young, can bounce back from his worst performance this season.
Young gave up seven runs on nine hits through three and two-third innings against Philadelphia, but thanks to a tremendous effort by his teammates, the Padres would rally for an 8-7 win over the Phillies.
Zito on the other hand hasn't fared well at all in his last two starts, not pitching past the fifth inning in either of them. He gave up four runs in four innings in a 7-3 loss to San Diego in his first start, then followed that up by giving up six runs through five innings pitched in a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers.
The Padres need this win to get back on track, it would be a momentum boost for their return home as they'll open a three-game home stand against the Pittsburgh Pirates starting on April 24th.
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