GIANTS beaten by San Diego 8-4

Giants stymied by veteran Maddux
Molina collects three RBIs, but San Francisco can't come back

The Giants endured the fate that usually befalls them when they face Greg Maddux, collecting only three hits in seven innings off the future Hall of Famer in an 8-4 loss to the San Diego Padres on Monday.

Maddux (1-0) subdued the sellout crowd at the Giants' home opener by notching his 348th career victory and improving to 29-14 lifetime against San Francisco. Since the Giants last defeated Maddux on May 9, 2003, he's 6-0 with a 2.67 ERA in 10 starts against them.

Giants starter Matt Cain (0-1) was not nearly as effective as Maddux, allowing five runs (four earned) and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Adrian Gonzalez's two-run homer in the first inning began Cain's trouble, although the Giants scored in their half of the inning -- the first run they have tallied before the fifth inning this season -- on Aaron Rowand's two-out double and Bengie Molina's RBI single.

The Padres essentially settled matters with a three-run third. Consecutive singles by Tadahito Iguchi, Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Jim Edmonds generated one run, Khalil Greene added a sacrifice fly and third baseman Jose Castillo's error on Scott Hairston's grounder accounted for the inning's final run.

Gonzalez singled and Greene lined a two-out triple to widen San Diego's lead in the seventh. The Giants made things interesting in the ninth when Eugenio Velez's leadoff triple sparked a rally highlighted by Molina's two-run double.

Comment: Oh, the misery! This Giants team looks very, very bad. The weekend series against Milwaukee was a grim prelude to the rest of the season. Giants management asks for patience. This is a team that could lose 125 games. Can it get any worse. The Giants are paying dearly for playing off their minor league system by not drafting any high level position players and giving up draft picks in the process of trying to bench strength around Barry Bonds.