National League Game Summary - San Francisco at San Diego
San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Yasmani Grandal knocked in three runs, Ian Kennedy turned in 6 2/3 solid innings, and the San Diego Padres pinned yet another potentially damaging loss on the San Francisco Giants with an 8-2 decision.
Rene Rivera and Cameron Maybin each had two RBI to help San Diego sweep the three-game weekend set and place the slumping Giants in a tie with Pittsburgh for the National League's top Wild Card.
San Francisco, which has now dropped six of eight, is now 4 1/2 back of division-leading Los Angeles heading into a key three-game series at the Dodgers.
"We got to get this offense going and execute. Stay away from the mistakes," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy.
Kennedy (12-13) yielded just five hits and a walk, with the Giants' lone two runs coming on a homer by Chris Dominguez -- his first major league hit -- in the seventh inning.
"The key (to the sweep) was the starting pitching. No doubt about it," said Padres manager Bud Black. "We got some timely hits today as the game went on."
Ryan Vogelsong (8-12) fanned five over five-plus innings for San Francisco, but was tagged for four runs -- two earned.
Vogelsong had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning, which Seth Smith broke up with a leadoff double that was followed by a single from Rivera. Alexi Amarista then lofted a fly ball to center deep enough to score Smith without a throw for the game's first run.
Kennedy kept it a one-run margin with a perfect top of the sixth, just prior to the Padres breaking the game open by scoring four times in their half of the inning.
Singles by Yangervis Solarte and Will Venable and an error by Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval loaded the bases with none out and brought Javier Lopez in relief of Vogelsong. Grandal greeted the lefty reliever with a sacrifice fly and Smith drew a walk before Rivera's groundout against George Kontos brought in Venable for a 3-0 lead.
After Amarista was intentionally walked to re-fill the sacks, Maybin came through with a single to left to send two more runners home.
Kennedy struck out the first two batters to open the seventh, but had his shutout bid spoiled when Brandon Crawford's single preceded Dominguez's blast over the left-field wall.
The Giants got no closer, though. Grandal doubled in both Venable and Jedd Gyorko in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead to 7-2, then later scored on a two-out single by Rivera.