Matt Chapman, Jerar Encarnacion and Luis Matos each homered during a six-run fourth inning on Sunday as the visiting San Francisco Giants squeaked past the San Diego Padres, 7-6.
Erik Miller (4-5) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to get the win after starter Spencer Bivens was pulled two outs shy of qualifying for the win. Bivens gave up four hits and one run in 4 1/3 innings, issuing one walk and recording three strikeouts as San Francisco (71-73) took two of three games from its National League West rival.
Joe Musgrove (5-5) was knocked out after 4 1/3 innings in his first bad start since coming off the injured list on Aug. 12. Musgrove gave up six runs on eight hits and a walk, striking out seven, as San Diego dropped to 81-64.
The Padres have a half-game lead over Arizona for the NL’s top wild-card spot following the Diamondbacks’ 12-6 win over the Houston Astros later Sunday. San Diego dropped six games behind Los Angeles in the NL West after the Dodgers’ 4-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
Musgrove, who allowed just four runs in his first five starts off the injured list, cruised through three innings before the home run ball bit him in the fourth. Chapman broke a scoreless tie with a two-run blast, his 23rd homer of the year.
Encarnacion soon followed with a three-run shot, his third long ball of 2024, and Matos lined a solo shot to left for his fifth homer of the campaign. The Giants’ other run came in the sixth via Curt Casali’s first homer of the season.
That made it 7-1 and turned out to be vital when San Diego mounted a late rally against the San Francisco bullpen. Tyler Rogers’ wild pitch brought Jackson Merrill home with the bases loaded in the seventh, and Tyler Fitzgerald dropped Jurickson Profar’s popup in shallow right-center field to score two more runs and pull the Padres within 7-4.
Xander Bogaerts drilled a two-run homer, his ninth long ball of the year, to left field in the eighth to make it a one-run game. Ryan Walker got the last five outs of the contest for his seventh save of the season.
Merrill’s 23rd homer of the year in the fifth was the only run the Padres managed off Bivens.
–Field Level Media
