Drew Pomeranz did not make it out of the 5th inning Monday but the Padres still had a chance to win their series opener in San Francisco.
With the tying run on 3rd base and Travis Jankowski representing the go-ahead run on 2nd, San Francisco’s Josh Osich and Santiago Casilla maneuvered the Giants out of a dicey 8th inning and back into the win column.
Jemile Weeks and Jose Pirela both struck out and with the exception of a Matt Kemp single in the 9th, the Friars never threatened again, losing 5-4 against their division rivals.
Early on it was Madison Bumgarner and the 3 P’s (Pagan, Pence & Posey). That may sound like a bad band name but those 4 Giants were difference-makers.
Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence, and Buster Posey backed their left-handed starting pitcher and helped the Giants jump out in front.
Pagan batted in the 9-hole but collected 3 hits to raise his average to .356.
Pence and Posey each blasted solo homers to the delight of the home crowd.
Local
Pence went yard against Pomeranz while Posey hit his homer off Carlos Villanueva (the 3rd long ball he’s allowed in his last 2 appearances).
Pomeranz was tagged with 3 earned runs and 7 hits in 4.2 innings of work. The lefty has been the team's best starting pitcher so far this year but Monday he did not have his best outing.
Wil Myers extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the 3rd. The base knock came shortly after Jon Jay got the Padres on the board by smacking a RBI single up the middle. That plated starting second baseman Jemile Weeks to make it 1-1.
Kemp narrowly missed a 3-run home run in the 3rd inning by about a foot but was robbed by centerfielder Denard Span along the centerfield wall. The clutch defensive play prevented the Padres from taking a 4-1 lead and easily would have changed the entire complexion of the game.
James Shields opposes Johnny Cueto on Tuesday evening. First pitch is at 7:15 p.m.
