Posey, Bryant Lead Giants Past Padres, Increase NL West Lead To 2 Games
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kris Bryant hit a bases-clearing double, Buster Posey had four hits and scored three times, and reliever Camilo Doval got San Francisco out of a big jam as the Giants beat the free-falling San Diego Padres 8-6 Wednesday night to take a two-game lead in the NL West.
The Giants got some help in their push for their first division title since 2012 when the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers lost 10-5 at Colorado. The Dodgers have won the division eight straight seasons.
The Giants, whose 99-53 record is the best in the majors, pulled within one win of reaching 100 for the eighth time in franchise history.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his NL-leading 40th homer for the Padres, who moved closer to elimination as their brutal collapse continued. They lost for the 10th time in 12 games, a skid that has dropped them from a one-game lead for the second wild-card spot to six games behind red-hot St. Louis, with Cincinnati and Philadelphia each 1 1/2 games ahead of them.
San Diego is a loss away from .500.
Tatis came to bat with two outs in the ninth and two runners on and flied out to left.
Bryant, acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline, hit a bases-loaded double to the gap in right-center with one out in the first for a 3-0 lead. Opener Vince Velasquez (3-8) got into trouble right away when leadoff batter Tommy La Stella reached on catcher interference on Victor Caratini, Brandon Belt walked and Posey singled. LaMonte Wade Jr., who had a go-ahead hit in the ninth inning of Tuesday night's 6-5 win, struck out before Bryant doubled.
Scott Kazmir, a 37-year-old lefty, got through four scoreless innings before getting into a jam that could have swung the game for the Padres. Kazmir opened the fifth by walking Caratini, allowing a single to pinch-hitter Jake Marisnick and walking Tatis. A catcher interference call against Posey while Jake Cronenworth was batting brought in a run.
Manager Gabe Kapler summoned Doval (4-1), who struck out Manny Machado on three straight sliders and then got Tommy Pham to ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Giants took an 8-1 lead thanks to RBI singles by Brandon Crawford and Mike Yastrzemski in the sixth, and Posey's RBI double and Wade's two-run single in the seventh.
Tatis homered off Jarlin Garcia with one out in the three-run seventh. He became the fifth player in Padres history to reach that mark and the 10th player in baseball history to reach it at age 22 or younger.
Kazmir allowed an unearned run and four hits, struck out three and walked three.
UP NEXT
RHP Logan Webb (10-3, 2.79) of the Giants and RHP Yu Darvish (8-10, 4.13) of the Padres are scheduled to start the series finale Thursday afternoon.
© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.