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Padres extend NL West led over Giants

May 13, 2010 - 5:43 AM By JANIE McCAULEY AP Baseball Writer

SAN FRANCISCO(AP) -- The San Diego Padres are doing all the little things that first-place teams do: aggressive baserunning, manufacturing runs, pressuring the opposing pitcher.

Yorvit Torrealba drove in two runs against his former team, pitcher Clayton Richard had a sacrifice fly to help his cause and the Padres stayed unbeaten this year against the rival San Francisco Giants with a 5-2 win Wednesday night.

The Padres increased their division lead over the Giants to 2 1/2 games and beat San Francisco for the ninth time in the last 12 meetings, including going 5-0 this season.

"We're just playing really good baseball right now, not just against the Giants," Richard said. "When you play the way we've been playing, you'll end up beating a lot of teams."

Richard (2-2) allowed seven hits for the fourth time this season but won his second straight decision with seven strong innings, outpitching Matt Cain and delivering a solid outing after the Padres handed Barry Zito his first loss of the year Tuesday night.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy called his first team meeting of the year afterward.

"We have not played well against them, that's the bottom line," Bochy said. "Their pitching has shut us down and we're making all the mistakes. They're playing better ball than us, there's no getting around it and we know it. We're a better club than this. We're just making way too many mistakes."

Jerry Hairston Jr. hit a go-ahead RBI double in the fourth to make it 3-2, then Torrealba hit his second RBI single of the game in the sixth. Scott Hairston added a sacrifice fly in the seventh for the Padres.

Torrealba is batting .323 (40 for 124) with three home runs and 22 RBIs against the Giants since they traded him to Seattle during the 2005 season.

"I don't know what to say about that - I see the ball well against these guys," Torrealba said.

At 21-12, the Padres have the second-best start in franchise history through 33 games. The 1998 teams - skippered by Bochy - began 22-11 and went on to win the division.

Richard, the second lefty starter in as many nights for San Diego, had 1-2-3 innings in the second, third, fifth and seventh on the way to winning on the road for the first time in 2010. Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 12 chances.

The Giants have dropped their first two of a six-game homestand following a 4-2 East Coast road trip.

Andres Torres singled in a run for the Giants in the second, then they pushed another across on a balk against Richard. But San Francisco missed chances, too. Aubrey Huff grounded into double plays in the second and fourth innings following leadoff singles both times by Bengie Molina.

San Francisco had the bases loaded in the sixth but second baseman David Eckstein made nice diving stop on Nate Schierholtz's sharp grounder and flipped the ball to Jerry Hairston covering second.

Cain (2-2) matched his career high by walking six batters - his walk total over his previous six outings was 10 - and was tagged for five earned runs to double his total in his initial three starts at home. Cain is winless in his last four starts against San Diego dating to a win on April 21, 2009, and the Giants have lost the last three. He threw 114 pitches in 6 2-3 innings.

"We've had some close games and we've done some things right and we've done some things wrong," Cain said. "Mainly today I did a lot of things wrong and that's the reason we lost."

Notes: San Diego's Will Venable stole his ninth base and Jerry Hairston swiped second and third in the eighth to double his previous season total of two. ... Giants LF Mark DeRosa underwent further tests on his troublesome left wrist, which caused him to miss his third straight start. ... The memorial service Trevor Brent Correia, the younger brother of Padres pitcher Kevin Correia, will be Thursday in San Diego. He died in a hiking accident Saturday at age 21. Kevin Correia is set to start Saturday at home vs. the Dodgers. "He's in there," manager Bud Black said. ... The Padres still expect to get SS Everth Cabrera back from a hamstring injury this weekend. ... Black on burly Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval, nicknamed the Kung Fu Panda: "He's like a Grizzly bear going for a salmon on the Kenai Peninsula." ... Black on Giants fans booing nice guy Eckstein (star for the Angels in their 2002 World Series victory over San Francisco): "How can you boo Eck, are you kidding me?" ... Milton Schwartz threw out the ceremonial first pitch on his 90th birthday.