Forget all those bloops and steals and dinks and dunks. The Giants weren't merely satisfied to beat the San Diego Padres at their own pesky little game Thursday night.
They went bigger, deeper and a heck of a lot louder while making their most important statement of the season, hitting four home runs to overpower the NL West leaders in a 7-3 victory at Petco Park in the opener of a four-game showdown.
Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, Buster Posey and Pat Burrell brought out their heaviest lumber, hitting mostly mash jobs that were no-doubt homers even in the great plains of Petco.
It was just the 20th time in Petco Park's seven-year history that a team hit four home runs in a game. The Giants' previous high was three homers here, when Mark Sweeney, Ray Durham and Pedro Feliz cleared the fences June 30, 2006.
Matt Cain provided the other vital piece, a resolute effort from the mound, as the Giants moved within one game of the Padres (two back in the loss column) in the NL West. They also advanced within a game of the Atlanta Braves after the NL wild-card leaders lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Even if it was a statement game, the Giants clubhouse was filled with understatements afterward.
"Well-played game, well-pitched, the bats were there -- it's hard to play a better game," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, with a monotone that suggested a Sunday in mid-May. "Well, it's nice to get the first one. I've said this: There's baseball left after this." Said Huff: "We've got to keep it rolling. If we win this one and lose the rest, it doesn't mean much." One would think the Giants celebrated a little inside, though, while putting on a home run display that was both awesome and shocking, given their paltry average of 2.1 runs while losing nine of 11 to the Padres earlier this season. Of those tangles, 10 games were decided by three runs or fewer -- including seven one-run margins. Before the game, Bochy was asked if he'd look to lay down more bunts and place a greater emphasis on manufacturing runs to match the Padres' slashing, opportunistic style. "I'm not going to bunt Buster or Burrell or Uribe or (Jose) Guillen," Bochy said. "That's not how we're built." Seeing how three of those guys homered, "large ball" was the way to go. The Giants jumped on right-hander Jon Garland from the start, when Andres Torres tripled on the second pitch of the game and scored on the first of Freddy Sanchez's three hits. Sanchez singled ahead of Huff's two-run shot in the third, which soared into the sandbox section in right-center field. Uribe sent another meteor into someone's sand castle with his solo shot in the fourth -- a most impressive feat of strength for a right-handed hitter. Posey cracked a two-run moon shot into the second deck of the left-field stands in the fifth. And Burrell reached low-grade orbit when he greeted former Giants pitcher Kevin Correia to begin the sixth, hitting a high drive down the left-field line that smacked the bricks on the top story of the Western Metal Supply Co. building. Didn't the Padres once proclaim this place Bonds-proof? It was the kind of visiting performance that causes a home crowd to fall silent. But based on the cheers that accompanied each home run, there was a solid contingent of Giants fans in the stands, too. "Yeah, there was," said Cain, who exited in the ninth to a standing ovation from fans above the Giants dugout. "It's a huge thing for them to be cheering us on the road and be able to hear these guys. That's always fun." Cain (11-10) looks to have his boots laced for a march deep into October. He filled the strike zone while yielding just three hits and a walk in the first eight innings. But his bid for a complete game stalled in the ninth when David Eckstein hit a leadoff single and Ryan Ludwick followed with a two-run homer. The Giants' two trade-deadline acquisitions, Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez, shut the door and allowed the Giants to rest closer Brian Wilson. Sanchez didn't go deep, but he made a huge contribution. In addition to his three hits, the second baseman ranged far on the grass to take away two singles from Padres cleanup man Adrian Gonzalez -- the kind of plays the Padres had been making against the Giants all season. The Giants solved that irksome issue by simply hitting them over the fence.
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