Giants 3, Padres 2: Friars get dealt a bad Hand in extras

Well, if you had any doubts about whether the Padres we saw during the five-series winning streak were a fluke, you should be able to put those to bed now. The Friars lost their third of four games against the Giants, and this one was an extra innings heartbreaker. Neither team had their offense firing on all cylinders, combining for fifteen hits over eleven innings. So this afternoon’s game really came down to which bullpen screwed up first.

The Padres jumped out to a very early lead, as Manuel Margot went yard in the first at bat of the day. Eric Lauer cruised through his first five innings, but he got stung by one bad pitch in the sixth. Gorkys Hernandez took a fastball right down the middle and sent it over the center field fences to tie the game.

Margot scored the second San Diego run of the day ten innings after getting the first one. He led off the top of the eleventh by drawing a walk off Reyes Moronta, then moved into scoring position on a ground out. A wild pitch allowed him to take third, and a two-out single by Cory Spangenberg put the Padres on top again.

But Brad Hand couldn’t lock it down. He struck out Brandon Belt to start the bottom half of the frame, but Andrew McCutchen drove a liner to left for a double. Buster Posey was given a free pass, which was a perfectly sensible decision... except for the part where Hand beaned Brandon Crawford on the very next pitch to load the bases. Hunter Pence hit a double, and that was the game.

The road trip continues tomorrow as the Pads head to Texas to take on the Rangers for a three-game set. First pitch at 5:05 PM.