Padres 3, Giants 2: Cashner Dominates On The Mound And At The Plate

Andrew Cashner didn't just dominate the Giants tonight, he did it with the bat, too. Cashner's impressive line (8+ IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K) only tells half the story. He was the only Padre the San Francisco pitching staff couldn't get out, drawing a walk and hitting a triple and a bunt single in his three plate appearances.

Abraham Almonte got the offense started with a ground rule double to right to start the third inning. Unfortunately, he came up lame after rounding third, and would exit the game with a sprained left inning. After striking out Cameron Maybin, Yusmerio Petit gave up a walk to Cashner, bringing Yangervis Solarte up with one out. Solarte hit a grounder to second baseman Joe Panik that should have been a textbook double play, but Panik botched the throw to second. Venable, pinch running for Almonte, scored easily to put the Friars on the board.

Our boys added on a couple more in the sixth inning. Yasmani Grandal hit a one out double to right field, and somebody on the Giants thought it would be a great idea to intentionally walk Seth Smith to get to Rene Rivera. Rene must have taken offense to that, because he drilled a bases clearing double that would end up deciding the game.

Cashner, meanwhile, just kept on dealing. After 8 innings, he had allowed only 2 hits and a walk (he'd also picked up 2 hits and a walk of his own). Even though he'd thrown 102 pitches, Bud Black rolled the dice and sent him back out for the ninth. But Cash was gassed. Hunter Pence led off the inning with a solo shot to left field, his 20th of the season. When Panik followed that up with a single, Black yanked his starter and brought in Kevin Quackenbush. Quack got Posey to fly out. The mission bell rang once. Pablo Sandoval hit a single, putting the tying run on first. The tying run got considerably faster when Bruce Bochy sent in a pinch runner. Unfazed, Quackenbush rallied and got Brandon Belt to strike out looking. The mission bell rang a second time. Gregor Blanco hit a tiny bloop to second. It was enough to score Panik, and it put the tying run in scoring position. That brought up Brandon Crawford, who worked a 3-1 count before finding a pitch he liked. He made good, solid contact, sending a line drive to left field... straight into Seth Smith's glove. The mission bell rang for a third, triumphant time.

Ian Kennedy will go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:10 PM.

Friar Fever led the thread with 22 comments while daveysapien scored the only two recs of the night.