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Adrian Gonzalez homers twice as Padres rout Giants

Sep 12, 2008 - 5:31 AM By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Adrian Gonzalez hit a pair of home runs to power the San Diego Padres to an 11-3 drubbing of the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Adrian Gonzalez's three-run blast capped a string of four consecutive hits to open the first as the Padres jumped on San Francisco starter Matt Cain (8-12), seizing a 5-1 lead.

The 26-year-old All-Star added his 31st homer - a solo blast - in the seventh to surpass his career-high from last season, pushing the advantage to 7-2. It was his second multi-home run game of the season and sixth of his career.

"It is nice, I'm not going to lie to you," Adrian Gonzalez said of surpassing the 30-homer plateau. "It feels good, and it is a good accomplishment, especially in this ballpark."

Adrian wasn't the only Gonzalez to go deep. Brother Edgar added his sixth homer - a two-run shot - in the eighth after pinch hitting for reliever Cla Meredith. San Diego tacked on four runs in the inning to put the game out of reach.

"It did feel pretty good to do it on the same day as my brother," Edgar Gonzalez said. "It was nice, especially because he hit two. I still think mine went farther."

The power surge supported Padres rookie starter Josh Geer (2-0), who allowed two runs and nine hits while striking out two in seven innings.

"I felt really good," Geer said. "I worked both sides of the plate and tried to keep them off guard. (The big lead) makes you relax a bit and you can just focus on throwing strikes."

San Francisco had taken an early lead on Geer with three singles in the first as Rich Aurilia drove in Nate Schierholtz for a 1-0 advantage before Cain fell apart in the bottom of the frame.

Cain allowed six runs and nine hits in a season-low 3 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one in falling to his third straight defeat.

"Everything was over the plate," Cain said. "It was very frustrating. I'm embarrassed with the way I pitched, and embarrassed for the team. I let them down."

Rookie Drew Macias collected his first major league hit in the third for the Padres - a solo home run that extended the lead to five runs.

Eugenio Velez's RBI triple narrowed the Giants' deficit to 6-2 in the sixth. Velez also doubled and scored in the ninth to account for the game's final run.

"(Cain) was just off tonight," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He had trouble hitting his spots. I thought we swung the bats decent. We had some hard outs, we just couldn't mount any offense."