Friars falter against lurking Giants
07/21/2006
SAN FRANCISCO -- Chan Ho Park shrugged. There wasn't a whole lot to say about this one, in any language.
"It wasn't a good day for us," Park, the pride of Korea, said. "It was a good day for them."
The Giants were living right on Thursday night. Barry Bonds cracked his 722nd career homer, triggering three eighth-inning, seat-finding lasers in succession, and southpaw Noah Lowry shut down the Padres on Thursday night in a 9-3 romp before 42,047 at AT&T Park.
Bonds powered a two-run homer against reliever Brian Sweeney after catcher Mike Piazza dropped Bonds' towering popup in foul territory for an error, Piazza's elbow making contact with the ground and forcing the ball out of his glove.
Bonds' 14th homer of the season was followed by Ray Durham's 16th, to right, and Pedro Feliz's 16th, to left-center. All three blows came against Sweeney, a stalwart in middle relief all season for the Padres.
"He got some balls up," Bochy said. "He's been throwing a lot. It was tough for Sweeney, but he's been doing a good job for us."
The Padres, who were 2-4 on their first homestand following the All-Star break, had their National League West lead shaved to 1 1/2 games over the second-place Giants, who tagged Park with five runs in six innings.
The Padres threatened for four consecutive innings, from the third through the sixth, but left runners in scoring position each time, as Lowry pitched out of trouble to go to 5-6.
Park, falling to 6-6, was stung by the long ball. First baseman Chad Santos, from Hawaii, made his fifth Major League at-bat memorable when he smashed his first career homer. It exited the park in dead center in the second inning following Todd Greene's two-out single.
"It was a fastball, a two-seamer, exactly where I wanted to throw it -- on the corner," Park said of Santos' blast, which happened in front of his parents, visiting from Hawaii. "I never faced him before.
"I just threw it, trying to make a strike. He has pop. The ball carried pretty good. They hit some good pitches. Maybe the selection wasn't good. If I pitched against them, I wouldn't change anything -- except expect the squeeze and not walk the leadoff guy."
Those bothersome things happened when the Giants pushed across three runs in the fifth, Randy Winn's RBI double and a squeeze bunt by Omar Vizquel the key plays.
Park, who charged the Vizquel bunt but couldn't get it to Piazza in time, got in trouble by walking Santos leading off.
"That walk hurt me big time," said Park, who is 1-3 at the Giants' new home with a 6.98 ERA. "And the bunt surprised me. If I kept the score to two or three runs, we've got a chance to win. Our team always scores late in the game."
The Padres did, indeed, make the Giants squirm a bit in the ninth. Adrian Gonzalez's second single, already having extended his hitting streak to 11 games, was followed by a walk by Mark Bellhorn and an RBI single by Josh Barfield that ended Lowry's night.
Dave Roberts' two-run single against Kevin Correia following a walk to Josh Bard made it 9-3, and Jeremy Accardo was summoned from the bullpen. Mike Cameron slapped a single to load the bases, and when Brian Giles laced a shot seemingly ticketed for center field, there was life in the Padres' dugout.
Alas, second baseman Durham intercepted the bullet with a backhanded stab, and it was over when Piazza skied to right, ending a frustrating night for the man who has been afire of late.
"It would have been very interesting if that ball gets through," Bochy said of Giles' shot, adding that Gonzalez lined into a double play in the second inning and Cameron lined to center to leave two runners stranded in the fourth.
"The ball's got to bounce your way sometimes. They got hits when they needed them."
Bochy felt Park "had good stuff but just made a couple mistakes. He had great innings and two rough ones where he made mistakes."
Lowry, who moved to 3-1 in nine career appearances against the Padres, was more fortunate. His miscalculations didn't hurt him -- at least not until the ninth when the Padres finally rallied with too little too late.
"He's a good young talent," Bochy said of the Giants southpaw. "He's been tough on us before. He has a good changeup. When he's on, he's tough.
"We hit some balls well at times but couldn't find a hole. That's how it goes sometimes."
Source: http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/
SAN FRANCISCO -- Chan Ho Park shrugged. There wasn't a whole lot to say about this one, in any language.
"It wasn't a good day for us," Park, the pride of Korea, said. "It was a good day for them."
The Giants were living right on Thursday night. Barry Bonds cracked his 722nd career homer, triggering three eighth-inning, seat-finding lasers in succession, and southpaw Noah Lowry shut down the Padres on Thursday night in a 9-3 romp before 42,047 at AT&T Park.
Bonds powered a two-run homer against reliever Brian Sweeney after catcher Mike Piazza dropped Bonds' towering popup in foul territory for an error, Piazza's elbow making contact with the ground and forcing the ball out of his glove.
Bonds' 14th homer of the season was followed by Ray Durham's 16th, to right, and Pedro Feliz's 16th, to left-center. All three blows came against Sweeney, a stalwart in middle relief all season for the Padres.
"He got some balls up," Bochy said. "He's been throwing a lot. It was tough for Sweeney, but he's been doing a good job for us."
The Padres, who were 2-4 on their first homestand following the All-Star break, had their National League West lead shaved to 1 1/2 games over the second-place Giants, who tagged Park with five runs in six innings.
The Padres threatened for four consecutive innings, from the third through the sixth, but left runners in scoring position each time, as Lowry pitched out of trouble to go to 5-6.
Park, falling to 6-6, was stung by the long ball. First baseman Chad Santos, from Hawaii, made his fifth Major League at-bat memorable when he smashed his first career homer. It exited the park in dead center in the second inning following Todd Greene's two-out single.
"It was a fastball, a two-seamer, exactly where I wanted to throw it -- on the corner," Park said of Santos' blast, which happened in front of his parents, visiting from Hawaii. "I never faced him before.
"I just threw it, trying to make a strike. He has pop. The ball carried pretty good. They hit some good pitches. Maybe the selection wasn't good. If I pitched against them, I wouldn't change anything -- except expect the squeeze and not walk the leadoff guy."
Those bothersome things happened when the Giants pushed across three runs in the fifth, Randy Winn's RBI double and a squeeze bunt by Omar Vizquel the key plays.
Park, who charged the Vizquel bunt but couldn't get it to Piazza in time, got in trouble by walking Santos leading off.
"That walk hurt me big time," said Park, who is 1-3 at the Giants' new home with a 6.98 ERA. "And the bunt surprised me. If I kept the score to two or three runs, we've got a chance to win. Our team always scores late in the game."
The Padres did, indeed, make the Giants squirm a bit in the ninth. Adrian Gonzalez's second single, already having extended his hitting streak to 11 games, was followed by a walk by Mark Bellhorn and an RBI single by Josh Barfield that ended Lowry's night.
Dave Roberts' two-run single against Kevin Correia following a walk to Josh Bard made it 9-3, and Jeremy Accardo was summoned from the bullpen. Mike Cameron slapped a single to load the bases, and when Brian Giles laced a shot seemingly ticketed for center field, there was life in the Padres' dugout.
Alas, second baseman Durham intercepted the bullet with a backhanded stab, and it was over when Piazza skied to right, ending a frustrating night for the man who has been afire of late.
"It would have been very interesting if that ball gets through," Bochy said of Giles' shot, adding that Gonzalez lined into a double play in the second inning and Cameron lined to center to leave two runners stranded in the fourth.
"The ball's got to bounce your way sometimes. They got hits when they needed them."
Bochy felt Park "had good stuff but just made a couple mistakes. He had great innings and two rough ones where he made mistakes."
Lowry, who moved to 3-1 in nine career appearances against the Padres, was more fortunate. His miscalculations didn't hurt him -- at least not until the ninth when the Padres finally rallied with too little too late.
"He's a good young talent," Bochy said of the Giants southpaw. "He's been tough on us before. He has a good changeup. When he's on, he's tough.
"We hit some balls well at times but couldn't find a hole. That's how it goes sometimes."
Source: http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/
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