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Padres give away late lead, respond in time for wild win

Jul 19, 2007 - 6:15 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- The San Diego Padres showed they have a flair for the dramatic.

The Padres surrendered a late three-run lead but recovered as Geoff Blum singled home Khalil Greene in the bottom of the eighth en route to a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday in the rubber match of the three-game series.

Filling in for Marcus Giles, who was benched for three games following a dreadful stretch that has seen him bat just .191 since May 7, Blum helped the Padres rally against Mets reliever Joe Smith (2-1). Greene drew a one-out walk and, after Josh Bard struck out, advanced on a single by Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Blum followed by hitting a sinking liner to shallow right, plating Greene with the go-ahead run.

"You need to do those things to win championships and that's what we're going after," Blum said. "Greg Maddux pitched a (heck) of a game and it was kind of disappointing to see him lose that win, but we got back in the dugout and the game wasn't over. We still had a couple of innings in our hand and we took advantage of it."

"I was just trying to get ahead and keep the ball down to get them to hit it on the ground," Smith said. "It (stinks). Nobody wants to do that. It's no fun."

The rally made up for a awful performance in the top of the eighth by Scott Linebrink (3-2), who picked up the win despite allowing three runs in one frame. Closer Trevor Hoffman worked a perfect ninth to notch his 26th save in 28 chances and the 508th of his career.

Trailing, 4-1, after seven innings, the Mets forged a tie against Linebrink in the eighth. After consecutive two-out walks to Jose Valentin and Carlos Beltran, David Wright lined a three-run home run just over the wall in left field for his 17th blast of the season.

"I was just trying to be too fine," Linebrink said. "I'm feeling good, it's just one of those lapses that happen during the season. The real story is the hitters coming through and battling back. They came through and won that game for us, so hats off to them."

The comeback ruined a masterful 65-pitch start by 41-year-old righthander Maddux, who tied a season high with six strikeouts in five scoreless innings before exiting with a sore left hamstring. He had languished in his last three outings, allowing 15 runs and 25 hits over 15 1/3 frames.

"I don't know if it just started cramping or I tweaked it or what," said Maddux, who did not expect to miss any time because of the injury. "It's actually feeling pretty good. I let (manager Bud Black) know I was getting tired, too. He took me out, which I was actually kind of glad he did. Mentally, I was about done anyways."

"It was one of those decisions where I didn't want to risk it and look back," Black said of pulling Maddux from the game. "He indicated that he was able to go back out, but I felt as though I didn't want to do that and take a chance."

Adrian Gonzalez snapped his 10-game RBI drought and 22-game homerless stretch with an RBI double in the first and a solo shot in the fifth. Milton Bradley added his first homer as a Padre in the third.

"Like all of our position players, I think for us to continue to be successful, it's going to take a collective effort from all of our guys," Black said. "But, I think those guys in the middle of the order are vital."

Carlos Delgado belted his 15th homer of the season in the seventh for the Mets, who had won three of four before the setback.

"Anytime you bounce back like that and tie the game (it's tough to lose)," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We obviously wanted to get a win there. We're starting to get back into swinging the bats a little better. Hopefully, the bats are starting to heat up a little bit."

The victory gave San Diego its first series win at home since June 5-7, when they swept three games from the Los Angeles Dodgers, a stretch in which the Padres won just five of 11 contests at Petco Park.

Mets starter John Maine surrendered four runs and seven hits with five strikeouts over six frames. The outing continued what has become a long struggle for the Mets - New York has not won when its starter has allowed more than three runs in a game since May 17 against the Chicago Cubs.