Padres continue postseason push against Giants

Sep 15, 2007, 14:48 GMT

- The San Diego Padres are doing their best to maintain their lead in the National League wild card race. A win tonight over the San Francisco Giants in the middle portion of a three-game series at Petco Park would help their cause immensely.

The Padres posted a 5-4 victory over the Giants in their series opener yesterday, and they needed it. The win snapped a two-game losing streak and helped San Diego keep its 1 1/2 game lead over both Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The Phillies and Dodgers each won on Friday.

Khalil Greene hit a home run in the 10th inning to lift the Padres to the thrilling one-run victory. Geoff Blum hit an RBI double in the ninth to send the game into extra innings, while Scott Hairston also homered in the win.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers' win over Arizona yesterday also helped San Diego move within three games of the Diamondbacks for the lead in the NL West.

Chris Young started for San Diego and pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits to go along with five strikeouts and one walk. Trevor Hoffman (4-4) pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the victory.

Kevin Frandsen and Ryan Klesko each knocked in a run for the Giants, who have lost two straight and three of their last four. San Francisco starter Barry Zito gave up two runs on four hits in six innings while striking out four and walking three. Zito also knocked in a run.

Matt Cain will try to get back on the winning track tonight for the Giants. Cain won three straight starts to close out August, but is winless through a pair of September outings. He was lit up for six runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings of a loss to the Rockies before getting a tough-luck no-decision on Sunday versus the Dodgers.

Against Los Angeles, Cain yielded just two runs and six hits over seven innings. He has allowed more than two runs in just one of his last four starts and is 7-14 with a 3.78 earned run average.

The right-hander is 3-2 with a 2.07 ERA in nine career starts against the Padres, and held the club to a pair of runs over 7 1/3 frames in a no-decision against them on August 3 in San Diego.

Brett Tomko will make his first start for San Diego since joining the club after being let go by the Dodgers to make room for former Padre David Wells. Tomko has allowed just two runs over five innings of relief work for San Diego over three outings, including Tuesday when he gave up a run and three hits in an inning of work against the Dodgers.

The right-hander went 2-11 with a 5.80 ERA in 33 games (15 starts) with LA this year. Tomko is 4-5 with a 4.96 ERA in 16 games (12 starts) lifetime versus the Giants.

The Padres have won six in a row against the Giants and are 10-3 against them this season with a 6-1 mark at Petco Park. They swept the Giants in three games at home from August 3-5.

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