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Wells wins first game in a month as Padres top Marlins

Jul 3, 2007 - 6:00 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- David Wells pitched 6 2/3 solid innings and Brian Giles scored two runs as the San Diego Padres topped the Florida Marlins, 3-1, on Monday.

Wells picked up his first victory since June 3 in shutting out the Marlins on five hits. The 43-year-old lefthander recorded a season-high six strikeouts against three walks and won at Petco Park for just the second time this season.

San Diego reliever Heath Bell got the final out of the seventh and Scott Linebrink allowed a solo home run to Josh Willingham in the eighth before Trevor Hoffman retired the side in the ninth for his 24th save in 26 chances and 506th career.

"It was enough (offense)," Wells said. "When you go out there and get some runs like that, you feel comfortable. Not too comfortable, because you still have to go out there and pitch, but it's nice to know that you have a little bit of leeway out there."

"(Wells) did a fine job," Padres manager Bud Black said. "His breaking ball I think had a little more bite to it tonight. He moved his fastball around in the zone, threw it for strikes. I would say that's typical of how he's been throwing over his last number of starts."

Florida's best scoring opportunity against Wells came in the fifth when Miguel Cabrera earned a two-out walk and advanced to third on an error by San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Wells (4-5) recovered to get Willingham to fly out to right and end the threat.

"I was in a situation where there were two outs, so a flyball or groundball, if you get that, it's going to be the key," Wells said. "You try to avoid the big innings when you've got guys on base like that. With two outs, normally it's minimal damage."

"(Wells) got out of jams," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We hit some balls hard right at people, and he got out of some jams. He pitched well for them."

After missing 34 games due to a right knee contusion, Giles made an immediate impact in his first game at Petco Park in over six weeks.

Giles, batting leadoff after switching spots with his younger brother Marcus since returning from the injury, reached base three times and scored twice to give Wells all the support he needed.

"With all of the time I missed, Buddy (Black) and I talked about it a lot," Brian Giles said of hitting at the top of the order. "We're just trying to figure out more ways to generate offense, and if that means me leading off, we'll do that to try to win baseball games."

"(Brian Giles) sees pitches, he fouls pitches off," Black said. "Either one of the Giles brothers will do whatever it takes for us to be successful and help our lineup score runs. They both have been very team-oriented when it comes to the lineup."

Florida starter Sergio Mitre (2-4) surrendered three runs on just three hits over six innings. The 26-year-old righthander lost his second straight decision.

"It's not frustrating," Mitre said. "It's my fault. I put the guys on base with a leadoff walk and a leadoff double. Those are the things that are under my control. Everything else after that, stuff happens."

Mike Cameron drove in a run in the sixth for San Diego, which won for the fourth time this year when collecting three hits or less. The Padres have won just three of their last 10 games at Petco Park.

Miguel Olivo added three hits for the Marlins, who have lost seven of nine.