Over the course of Saturday night’s game between the Padres and Giants at Petco Park, San Diego baseball fans ran the emotional gamut. But in the end they went home happy.
A night that started with a “I like how this is progressing” before deteriorating in to a “This is so typically depressing” ended with a resounding “WHOO HOO!!” after the Friars pulled off a 7-6, 10-inning, comeback win over the Giants thanks to a balk from San Francisco closer Santiago Casilla that brought home the game-winning run.
Infielder Ryan Schimpf helped the Padres to an early lead. He hit a solo home run in the second inning and an RBI triple in the third inning, the first triple of the MLB career. Matt Kemp also hammered his 17th homer of the season off Giants starter Jeff Samardzija as the Padres built a 5-2 lead.
That lead was given away rapidly by the Padres bullpen. Carlos Villanueva pitched the 6th inning and gave up a pair of solo home runs, one to Mac Williamson and one to Ramiro Pena, and the game was tied 5-5.
That was the score in the top of the 10th when another beleaguered Padres reliever gave up a gopher ball. Kevin Quackenbush served up a dinger to Giants catcher Buster Posey to give the Giants a 6-5 lead so they went to their closer and Casilla imploded immediately.
Alex Dickerson and Derek Norris singled and after Norris stole 2nd base the Padres had two runners in scoring position with nobody out. Adam Rosales then snuck one through the 5.5 hole to bring home Dickerson and tie it 6-6.
On the very next pitch, there was no pitch. Casilla caught a spike, tripped and balked to being in Norris and send Padres fans away with a smile.
That smile will get even bigger if the Padres can pull off their first sweep of the series on Sunday. Edwin Jackson makes his San Diego debut on the mound against Johnny Cueto.
