Thursday was National Comic Book Day. So, in honor of the occasion, the Padres and Giants turned AT&T Park in San Francisco in to "Bizarro World."
The Padres offense scored a lot of runs. The Padres pitching staff gave up a lot of runs. Everything was backwards, and the Giants came out with a 9-8 win and a Wild Card spot (which they had already locked up because of the Brewers losing in the afternoon, but celebrating after a win is still more fun).
Andrew Cashner allowed six runs in 5.0 innings, putting San Francisco up 6-0. That's usually far too much for the Padres to overcome, but lo and behold, they pulled it off.
In the 6th inning, Will Venable and Yasmani Grandal hit home runs.
In the 7th inning, Grandal hit a grand slam and Rene Rivera smashed a solo homer, giving San Diego's hitters eight runs in a mere two innings. There have been times this season the Friars haven't scored eight runs in an entire series.
However, the normally reliable bullpen could not hold the lead. Blaine Boyer surrendered three runs in the 7th, giving the Giants the last runs they needed. It's the first time this season the Padres have scored at least seven runs and not won a game.
A night after beating the Rockies at home to finish with a 48-33 record at Petco Park (a new high mark for their 10-year-old home) the Padres were done in by their inability to win away from the East Village.
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Only five teams in baseball have a better home record than the Padres. All five of them are going to the playoffs, while the Friars will finish under .500.
So, it appears they've solved the mystery of how to win at Petco. Now they have 29 other ballparks to figure out.
