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Rottino, Brewers lock up first winning season since 1992

Sep 30, 2007 - 1:00 AM By J.R. Radcliffe PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- The San Diego Padres fell short of clinching a playoff spot on the season's penultimate day, falling to the Milwaukee Brewers in 11 innings, 4-3, on Saturday.

Pinch hitter Vinny Rottino hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the 11th against Padres reliever Joe Thatcher (2-2), sending the sellout crowd at Miller Park into a frenzy as the team clinched its first winning season since 1992. Ryan Braun, who led off the frame with a double, scored the final run.

With his Hall of Fame father - a former Padre - in attendance, pinch hitter Tony Gwynn Jr. laced a two-out, two-strike triple into the right field corner against Padres closer Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning, scoring Corey Hart to tie the game at 3-3.

"I'll be interested to see what he has to say about it," the younger Gwynn said. "He always says he's a Padre at heart and he bleeds Padre, except for when his son is up."

It was Hoffman's eighth blown save of the year.

"On the brink of something like that, trying to execute and get that last out ... that's how elusive it can be sometimes," Hoffman said. "It was good execution on it and you have to give (Gwynn) a lot of credit. He saw a lot of changeups in that at-bat and made the adjustment."

After Milwaukee reliever Mitch Stetter (1-0) retired pinch hitter Jason Lane to close out the top of the 11th, the Brewers(82-79) went on to secure their first winning season since posting a 92-70 record 15 years ago.

"I knew that was the elephant in the room that nobody was talking about," said Rottino, who rooted for the Brewers as he grew up in nearby Racine. "I knew this was a big win."

The Padres (89-72) needed the victory to ensure a playoff berth but instead remain one game ahead of the New York Mets (88-73) and Philadelphia Phillies (88-73) - with one game to play - in the National League wild card standings.

The Mets defeated the Florida Marlins earlier in the day, 13-0, and the Phillies fell to the Washington Nationals, 4-2, leaving New York and Philadelphia tied for first in the NL East.

"It was a great baseball game," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Our guys will go back to the hotel and come back tomorrow morning. ... We've done it all year. The guys are fine."

Adrian Gonzalez drove in all three runs for San Diego and Chris Young threw six excellent innings but was unable to nab his elusive 10th win of the season.

Gonzalez hit a game-tying solo home run leading off the sixth inning against Brewers starter Dave Bush, who allowed three runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings. The first baseman then delivered a two-out RBI single against lefthander Brian Shouse in the seventh, giving the Padres a 3-2 lead.

Rickie Weeks hit his ninth home run in September after hitting just seven in the season's preceding five months, giving the Brewers a temporary lead in the fifth against Young, who had allowed just one hit to that point.

Young yielded only the two runs and two hits in six innings with four walks and seven strikeouts. But he still was unable to pick up his first victory since July 19 against Philadelphia. Entering Saturday's start, Young had gone 0-5 with a 6.08 ERA in 10 previous outings.

"I thought Chris' stuff was good," Black said. "You saw the two hits through six innings. His command was a little bit spotty at times but I thought when push came to shove, he made some pitches, and overall I thought he threw the ball well. I think he's inching closer and closer to regaining the form that we're all used to seeing Chris have."

San Diego scored a run in the first, when Brian Giles doubled to right field on the game's first pitch and scored on Gonzalez's two-out single. Giles finished with three doubles in his first three at-bats - all on first-pitch swings.

Milwaukee answered in the second as Geoff Jenkins stroked an RBI triple to right.

The Padres are looking to return to the postseason for the third straight season after winning the NL West each of the past two years.

Black said he would give the ball to regularly scheduled starter Brett Tomko on Sunday rather than ace Jake Peavy, who would be available on regular rest Monday should the Padres need to play a tiebreaker game for the wild card slot. The Padres are assured of at least a tie.

"This team has been in some tough spots and I think it's going to make it sweeter when we do clinch that playoff spot," Peavy said.