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Young, Schmidt brilliant as Padres win late

Jun 6, 2007 - 8:08 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Marcus Giles and the San Diego Padres spoiled Jason Schmidt's promising return.

Giles drove in Russell Branyan with a single off reliever Rudy Seanez in the eighth inning to give the Padres a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first of a three-game set on Tuesday.

Branyan started the rally by reaching on a hit by pitch by Seanez (2-1) and stole second. Giles then lined a base hit up the middle.

"(Seanez) threw me a sinker in and I was fortunate to keep it out of the air and keep it on a line," Giles said. "Russ getting that stolen base to get him on second was huge. Beating the Dodgers means a lot. I think it's obvious to everybody how much these games mean."

Schmidt, who had been on the disabled list since April 14 with shoulder bursitis, tossed six scoreless innings in his fourth start for the Dodgers, allowing just one hit.

"I felt free and easy out there, putting the ball where I want to and just throwing strikes," Schmidt said. "I was happy with the way it went. Overall, it would've been better for all of is if we came out with a win."

The 34-year-old righthander showed some of the same form that inspired Los Angeles to sign him to a three-year deal worth $48 million in the offseason, walking three batters and striking out five.

"It's the first time he's been out there in six weeks, and we're pleased with his performance," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "That's all I can say. We were pleased with everything about his game. It's just a shame we couldn't score a couple of runs for him."

San Diego starter Chris Young had a solid outing of his own, going seven innings without allowing a run. The 6-foot-10 righthander gave up three hits while walking four and striking out five.

"You've got to tip your cap to both pitching performances," Giles said. "(Young) was just doing what we're used to and (Schmidt) coming off the DL and putting up a pretty good performance."

In five starts at Petco Park this year, Young has allowed just two earned runs 34 1/3 innings, good for a 0.52 ERA.

"The most important thing is that we won the game," Young said. "Physically, I feel good and like I'm where I need to be. I think my velocity is good, my ball had a lot of life to it, and my arm strength is there. All in all, I'm happy with where I am and I just want to keep it going."

Scott Linebrink (2-1) pitched a perfect eighth and Trevor Hoffman worked around a one-out single in the ninth to pick up his 17th save and 499th of his career.

Adrian Gonzalez went hitless in four chances to snap a 10-game hitting streak for San Diego, who have won 11 of 14.

"It was kind of cool tonight with the fans getting loud out there," Branyan said. "We're not looking at the standings or anything, but we know these games against the Dodgers are important."

The Dodgers, who were limited to five hits, had won six of eight.