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Greene's walk-off homer caps Padres' comeback

Sep 15, 2007 - 6:46 AM By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Khalil Greene hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to turn a certain loss into a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

The win kept San Diego (79-67) 1 1/2 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies (78-69) for the National League wild card lead pulled within three games of Arizona (83-65) in the NL West Division. The Diamondbacks are playing at Los Angeles.

"To be able to come back and win the way we did I think was nice, especially at this point in time when the games are starting to wind down and we don't have that many left," Greene said. "It's still extremely close and we need to get wins to maintain the lead in the wild card and try to make up ground in the division."

With the Padres down to their last three outs and trailing 4-2, Scott Hairston greeted San Francisco closer Brad Hennessey with his fifth home run of the season against the Giants.

After a walk to Josh Bard and a sacrifice, Steve Kline entered and retired the lefthanded-hitting Brian Giles on a flyout to the right field fence. But Geoff Blum ripped a double down the third base line, scoring pinch runner Brady Clark with the tying run.

"It's a great comeback win, no doubt," Padres manager Bud Black said. "We've shown the resiliency all year. Any win in September when you're in contention is a nice win, and this was a good one."

San Diego looked like a winner in the ninth when Mike Cameron followed with a long blast to dead center against 30-year-old rookie Dan Giese, but center fielder Rajai Davis made a basket catch with his back to the infield right at the wall.

"We had so many close opportunities to win the ballgame," Hairston said. "Brian hit that ball to the wall that we all thought was gone. (Cameron) hit that ball to center field, which (Davis) made an amazing play. We just knew if we would keep at it and keep having good at-bats, this game was ours. We wanted it really bad."

After Trevor Hoffman (4-4) worked a quick top of the 10th, Greene followed Adrian Gonzalez's popout by belting a first-pitch fastball from Giese (0-1) well over the wall in left field for his 22nd homer of the season.

"I'm happy it turned out like it did," Greene said. "We were able to come back and score some runs at the end. I thought we had some well-hit balls up until that point and some opportunities to win the game previously. So, it was nice to be able to end it."

Until the Padres' late heroics, it looked like Eugenio Valdez's first major league hit would be a winner. The rookie tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Giants took a 3-2 edge. An RBI single by Ryan Klesko in the ninth provided a two-run cushion.

"We had a two-run lead going into the ninth," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We did what we wanted against a tough pitcher, but we just couldn't hold on. That's been a big problem this year. It got away from us again. We've seen enough of those walk-off homers and tough losses and this is an area we've got to get better at."

San Francisco starter Barry Zito yielded two runs in six innings, allowing four hits while walking three and striking out four. Kevin Kouzmanoff reached him for his 17th homer of the season.

"(Zito) has been throwing the ball great," Bochy said. "He had a chance to win the game there. He's pitched well without much to show for it. He gave us a chance to win, and we let it get away from us."

San Diego starter Chris Young turned in his best effort since returning from an oblique injury a month ago but is still winless since July 19. The 6-10 righthander allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out five.