Joey Lucchesi tossed a gem for his second win, holding the Giants to one run on five hits in six innings while fanning nine in the process. But even if he hadn’t been en fuego in this afternoon’s series finale, the Padres still would have won. That’s because the offense put together an even ten runs on eleven hits, nearly half of those coming with extra bases.
The Giants got their lone run in the second inning, when Nick Hundley and Evan Longoria led off with a pair of singles to put runners on the corners. Lucchesi got Hunter Pence to strike out, but Brandon Belt hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Hundley before the inning was over.
Then the third inning came, and Friars crossed home for five straight innings. Freddy Galvis started a two out rally by drawing a walk. A single from Franchy Cordero put Galvis in scoring position, and Christian Villanueva drove them both in with a double to left field. That gave the Pads a lead they would never give up.
Chase Headley led off the fourth with a walk and came home immediately after courtesy of Cory Spangenberg, who doubled to left. Jose Pirela brought Spangy home with a ground rule double, and Galvis singled Pierla home to put the good guys up by a grand slam.
Just one run scored in the fifth, courtesy of Villanueva’s solo shot. In the sixth, Pirela hit a one-out single, stole second, and then came home on a base hit from Cordero. Pirela capped off his impressive afternoon with a triple in the seventh that scored two, before crossing the plate himself on an error by Joe Panik.
After taking three straight from the fourth place Giants, the third place Padres will host the last place Dodgers. Robbie Erlin will fill in on the mound while Luis Perdomo serves his suspension for Wednesday’s scuffle. First pitch at 7:10 PM.