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Giles powers Peavy, Padres past Reds

Aug 12, 2007 - 10:36 PM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Brian Giles helped Jake Peavy remain perfect on the road.

Giles homered twice and Peavy pitched into the seventh inning as the San Diego Padres held on for a 10-4 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon.

It was the seventh victory in the last 11 contests for the Padres, who won the rubber game of this three-game series. San Diego (63-54) entered with a one-half game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League wild card race.

One of the keys to San Diego's success in this three-game set was the offensive production of Giles, who had five homers and seven RBI in the series.

A two-time All-Star, Giles gave San Diego the lead for good on the fourth pitch of the game, when he blasted Bronson Arroyo's 1-2 offering over the wall in right field.

Giles added another solo shot off Arroyo in the fourth to record his second multi-homer game in as many days and the 18th of his career. It was the seventh homer of the season for Giles, who gave the Padres a 5-0 lead with the blast.

"Giles has been swinging the bat great," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "He's one of our catalysts. I'm happy for him."

Giles gave credit to hitter friendly Great American Ball Park.

"I've hit the ball like this before," Giles said. "I don't feel locked in. In this park it's a little easier. This park is conducive to my power. Two or three of those might not have gone out in Petco. I just hit a few on the barrel of the bat. It was a good time to do it."

The early cushion proved to be enough for Peavy (13-5), who improved to 7-0 in 10 road starts this season. The NL's starting pitcher in this year's All-Star Game, Peavy has won his last four outings, yielding a total of just three earned runs in 26 2/3 innings over that stretch.

"Peavy was good," Black said. "I think its the fourth straight time he won after we lost."

"It is one of those things," Peavy said. "I can't put my finger on it. I enjoy pitching at home and on the road. I'll take 10 runs anywhere. We had to battle back after we lost three out of four in St. Louis. I'm proud of the way the boys battled back."

The Reds finally scored against Peavy on Edwin Encarnacion's RBI groundout in the fifth, ending the ace righthander's 23-inning scoreless streak. Peavy worked 6 2/3 frames in the contest, allowing four runs - two earned - and seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

"I lost command of my fastball late," Peavy said.

After drawing within 6-4 on Javier Valentin's solo homer in the seventh, Cincinnati threatened to tie the game when they loaded the bases with two outs.

But Padres righthander Heath Bell preserved the lead by inducing Brandon Phillips to line out to first base.

Khalil Greene had four hits and three RBI while Mike Cameron and Morgan Ensberg each added two hits for San Diego, which improved to 4-2 vs. Cincinnati this season.

Greene, who had six RBI in the series, tied his career high with four hits for the eighth time, fourth this season. He set a new career high with three doubles as the Padres set club records with nine doubles nine and 12 extra-base hits.

"It wasn't any one thing in particular," Greene said. "You have to constantly make adjustments. I faced three or four different pitchers. The important thing was we got the lead early and got them late when they got close."

"(Greene) hits a lot of doubles," Black said. "His slugging percentage is high (.464). He's got a great swing. When he is seeing the ball well, you'll see days like this."

Arroyo (5-13) yielded five runs and nine hits with one walk and five strikeouts in six innings.

"I didn't have my best stuff," Arroyo said. "I always battle when the sun's out. The first batter was typical. I wanted to put the pitch off the plate and didn't."

"What was a disappointment to me was that we had too many bad pitches when we were ahead in the count," Reds interim manager Pete Mackanin said.

Scott Hatteberg and Norris Hopper both had a pair of hits for the Reds, who have lost three of their last four games.

Hopper extended his career-high hitting streak to 10 games.