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Bruce Bochy has managed hundreds of games at Petco Park. It seems almost fitting that he won his last one there. Even if it was as a visitor.
Bochy, who has the most wins in both San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants history (John McGraw won 2,583 games for the New York Giants), is retiring after this season. In the middle of the game he received a warm ovation from fans of both teams in attendance, tipping his cap to the crowd from the dugout.
Then the Giants sent him out victorious with a 7-6 win.
The Friars used four pitchers, all of whom have started a game for San Diego this season, and not many of them were very good.
20-year-old Adrian Morejon started the bullpen day but had control issues. He walked three hitters in just 1.2 innings and gave up a pair of runs in the 2nd inning before being replaced by … Eric Lauer?
San Diego’s Opening Day starter came on for his first career Major League relief appearance and got Giants 1st baseman Tyler Austin to ground out to 2nd base with a couple of runners on to end the inning.
He got through a scoreless 3rd inning and, inexplicably, would have been in line for the win. In the bottom of the 3rd Ian Kinsler pinch-hit for Lauer and dropped a single to right field. Madison Bumgarner, long known as baseball’s resident pitching curmudgeon, hit Fernando Tatis Jr. in the leg. Usually it would be obviously unintentional to hit a guy to put two runners on with nobody out in a 2-1 game but since it’s Bumgarner I’m honestly not sure if the pitch had intent or not.
It turned out to hurt him. With two outs Hunter Renfroe hit a 3-run missile to the second deck in left-centerfield, his 29th of the year, to put the Padres on top 4-2. Luis Perdomo came on as the Padres’ third pitcher of the game and the lead evaporated.
A double and three straight singles, the last one by Poway native and former Padre Alex Dickerson, brought a pair of runs home to tie the game 4-4. Perdomo got through the 5th inning unscathed but coughed up another run in the 6th. Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski (grandson of Hall of Famer Carl) singled, went to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a single by Donovan Solano to put San Francisco in front 5-4.
The ability to manufacture a run is something the Giants do well, and the Padres do not so well. San Diego relies a lot on home runs and they thought they had the equalizer in the bottom of the 6th. Franmil Reyes lofted a drive to right field but Yastrzemski leapt to make a great catch and bring the ball back in the yard. Robbie Erlin relieved Perdomo in the 8th inning and kept it a 1-run game.
The Padres tried to make a rally in the bottom of the 8th when Tatis led off with a single. Two batters later Manny Machado hit a grounder to third base. Tatis was out at 2nd but Machado beat the throw to first base. However, on review Tatis was called for interference so Manny was called out to end the inning.
Erlin gave up two runs in the 9th to give the Giants a 7-4 lead and those runs turned out to be huge. In the bottom half Wil Myers smoked a 2-run home run to left field off Giants closer Will Smith to make it a one-run game but rookie 2nd baseman Luis Urias struck out to end it.
The Padres have lost all five of the series they’ve played since the All-Star break. On Monday they start a quick 2-game set against the Orioles with Chris Paddack on the mound.
