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Wednesday, Apr. 26 7:05pm ET
Kendall walk opens door for Giles | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- San Diego manager Bruce Bochy chose to pitch to Brian Giles with the game on the line, and the Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder made the Padres pay. Giles hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pirates a 9-8 victory over the Padres on Wednesday night. The Padres intentionally walked Jason Kendall to allow left-hander Matt Whisenant (2-1) to face the left-handed hitting Giles. "They're both good hitters," Bochy said. "(Whisenant) wasn't supposed to give him a pitch that good to hit." John Vander Wal drew a one-out walk from Whisenant and stole second to set up Giles' heroics. His liner went over shortstop Damian Jackson to score Vander Wal from second without a play. Giles thought Bochy's decision was a smart baseball decision. "You have to do that," Giles said. "Jason is hitting really well and you have to play the percentages. I knew they were going to make me hit." The Padres tied it with three unearned runs in the top of the ninth against Pirates closer Mike Williams (1-1). Jackson reached on shortstop Pat Meares' error, stole second and scored when second baseman Warren Morris couldn't handle Tony Gwynn's grounder for another error. Ryan Klesko hit a 2-1 pitch into the right-field seats for his fifth homer of the season and the fourth pinch-homer of his career. It was Williams' first blown save in three opportunities. Klesko is 3-for-8 in his career against Williams and all three hits have been home runs. "Bruce knew that I wasn't going to take Williams out in that situation" Pirates manager Gene Lamont said. "You're kind of backed into a corner a little bit." Meares' first career grand slam -- one of three Pittsburgh home runs -- broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth. Giles opened the inning with a single and advanced to third on Kevin Young's double. Wil Cordero walked to load the bases, and Meares drove a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall for his first grand slam in 772 major league games and 2,635 at-bats. It was the first time this season the Pirates have hit more than two home runs in a game. Padres starter Woody Williams gave up 11 hits and eight runs in five-plus innings. The other runs came on two-run homers -- Kendall hit his first in the first inning and Chad Hermansen hit his first in the fifth. Kendall stretched his hitting streak to 12 games. Ed Sprague doubled in each of his first three at-bats for the Padres. The first double came in the first inning and drove in two runs. Sprague scored on Eric Owens' single. Sprague scored in the third on Bret Boone's single. San Diego got a run in the eighth against Brad Clontz. Boone walked, went to third on Wiki Gonzalez's single and scored when Carlos Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly. The Padres have lost both games of the series. "The guys are really battling to come back the way we did," Bochy said. "Everything is going Pittsburgh's way right now." Game notesPadres pitcher Matt Clement will have a long ticket list for his start this afternoon. Clement is from nearby Butler, Pa., and will make his first appearance against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. ... Williams has allowed nine home runs in five starts this season. ... The Pirates are 2-0 since manager Gene Lamont revamped the lineup, moving Hermansen to the leadoff spot with Kendall third and Meares seventh. ... Garcia singled in his first major league plate appearance in the fifth. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard San Diego Clubhouse Pittsburgh Clubhouse RECAPS NY Yankees 2 Minnesota 0
Pittsburgh 9
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