San Francisco, CA (My Sportsbook) - The
San Francisco Giants will try to continue their surge into the playoffs when they play the finale of a two-game set against the
San Diego Padres tonight at Pac Bell Park.
On Tuesday, Benito Santiago finished 3-for-4 with four runs batted in and Barry Bonds hit his 45th homer of the season as the Giants pounded the Padres, 12-3. Reggie Sanders added a solo homer for the Giants, while David Bell had a two-run single.
The Giants moved within three games of Arizona for first place in the National League West with just five games remaining for both teams. The Diamondbacks lost to St. Louis Tuesday. San Francisco now holds a three-game lead over Los Angeles in the wild card race.
Ramon Vazquez hit a two-run homer for the Padres, who have lost three straight and five of their last six.
Russ Ortiz (14-10) picked up the victory, surrendering three runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two en route to winning his sixth straight start.
Oliver Perez (3-5) was dealt the loss in just four innings of work. He allowed four runs on six hits, while walking two and striking out two.
Bonds was intentionally walked twice, pushing his major-league single season record to 65. He also has a record 193 overall walks, including 33 against San Diego.
Livan Hernandez hopes to avoid moving closer to the major league lead in losses when he takes the mound for the Giants tonight. He is tied with three other hurlers with 16 losses, while Tampa Bay's Tanyon Sturtze leads the majors with 17 losses on the year. Hernandez is 2-1 in his last three starts after allowing 12 runs over 15 innings. He had a two-game win streak snapped on Thursday and yielded five earned runs on five hits through 2 1/3 frames in a 6-3 loss to Los Angeles.
The righthander is 2-0 with a 3.07 ERA in two starts against the Padres this season. He last faced San Diego on September 14 and yielded four runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings in a 12-4 win.
Lifetime, he is 6-1 with a 3.59 ERA versus the Padres. In 17 starts at home, Hernandez is 6-9 with a 4.30 ERA.
Countering for the visitors is Clay Condrey, who makes his third career start tonight. The rookie righthander is 1-1 with a 0.63 ERA in two career starts. He last started on Thursday and surrendered one earned run on four hits over seven innings in a 3-1 loss to Arizona.
Condrey has made two relief appearances against the Giants this season, going 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA three innings of work.
San Francisco owns a commanding 13-5 lead in the season series and is 7-1 at home versus the Padres this year. Since last season, the Giants are 15-3 versus San Diego at home.
