News
Uribe's two jacks help Giants bust out
San Francisco keeps pace in Wild Card chase with win
By Chris Haft / MLB.com
09/07/09 10:04 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants returned home, retooled their starting lineup and regained their offense. These developments were directly related to each other Monday as San Francisco thumped the San Diego Padres, 9-4, and remained two games behind National League Wild Card-leading Colorado. After ending their second trip in a row with a discouraging extra-inning defeat, the Giants enjoyed the restorative powers of AT&T Park, where they have built the NL's best home record (45-21). Having averaged 3.6 runs per game on the road and 4.4 runs at home entering Labor Day, the Giants received Juan Uribe's two-homer, five-RBI outburst, amassed 13 hits and looked nothing like the team that mustered 12 runs in six games on its just-completed sojourn. "It's kind of hard to explain. I don't know," catcher Bengie Molina said, struggling to explain the Giants' excellence at home. "The guys feel more comfortable, maybe. But we play better at home than we do on the road, for sure." The Giants' offensive windfall stemmed from more than just their surroundings. Manager Bruce Bochy had the luxury of fielding a lineup that featured the club's most proficient hitters, most notably second baseman Freddy Sanchez. Activated from the disabled list after being sidelined since Aug. 18 with an injured left shoulder, Sanchez batted second, went 2-for-4 and contributed a sacrifice bunt to the five-run third inning that helped San Francisco establish control. "I feel like I can swing with some sort of authority," Sanchez said. Though neither of Sanchez's hits figured in the Giants' scoring, his presence helped the rest of the lineup fall into place and gave right-hander Brad Penny (2-0) more than enough support. Uribe, who had started 12 of the previous 18 games at second base, moved to third base. That enabled Pablo Sandoval to occupy first base. Result: The 2-3-4-5 combination of Sanchez, Sandoval, Molina and Uribe combined for nine hits and 17 RBIs in 17 at-bats. "I think it makes a lot of difference having Freddy," Molina said. "He's always on base and playing small ball. I think he changes the lineup a lot." Uribe would transform any lineup in his current state. The jovial infielder, who left the clubhouse quickly and wasn't available to comment to print reporters, has homered in seven of his last 19 games and is batting .323 (20-for-62) in that stretch. "He's a guy who can carry a ballclub," Bochy said. "You look at him and you may not think that. But he has power." Uribe demonstrated that trait as he opened the scoring in the second inning. He tripled to deep right-center field off Padres starter Clayton Richard (4-2) and came home on a wild pitch. San Francisco, which mustered four hits in 47 at-bats with runners in scoring position, collected two such hits during their third-inning surge -- Sandoval's RBI double and Molina's run-scoring single. Back-to-back homers followed from Uribe, a two-run poke, and Edgar Renteria, who went 3-for-22 on the trip. The Padres narrowed the difference to 6-2 before Uribe settled matters with a three-run homer in the seventh inning off Edward Mujica. This windfall of runs might have becalmed most pitchers. But Penny, who no-hit San Diego for four innings and ultimately yielded two runs and three hits in seven innings, reacted angrily after Adrian Gonzalez homered in the sixth inning. Believing that Gonzalez stood and admired his drive to center field a little too long, Penny yelled at the Padres slugger as he headed for first base and rounded third. Penny received a visit from two of the umpires and Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who advised him to settle down. Penny eased up enough to strike out Will Venable to end the sixth, but pumped his arms and raised them in triumph as he stalked toward the Giants' dugout, bellowing at nobody in particular. "I got a little carried away," Penny said. "I was excited. I was having fun. I'm a guy who wears my emotions on my sleeve." Theatrics aside, the Giants hope Penny can continue to duplicate his performance down the stretch. In two appearances, the Aug. 31 acquisition has allowed two runs and eight hits in 15 innings. "He's not a fifth starter, trust me," Bochy said. "We got him late, so that's the slot he's in. But he's a No. 1-type of pitcher."Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
