Baggs' Instant Replay: Giants 6, Padres 5

BOX SCORE

SAN DIEGOBrian Wilson might have joined the Giants on the trip to Petco Park, but hes out of sight and out of mind until 2013. Interim closer Santiago Casilla was invisible for another day, too, with a tender knee.So the Giants turned to Sergio Romo to protect a one-run lead in the afternoon shadows.Romo was as fearless as ever while preserving the Giants 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. He got a strikeout, a pop up and another strikeout to save a victory for Madison Bumgarner, who struggled to get through six innings, and set up a rubber match in the series finale here.Romo blew away Chris Denorfia with a slider but used an 88 mph fastball with a full count to get Chase Headley swinging and strand red-hot cleanup man Carlos Quentin in the on-deck circle.Romo, No. 54, lowered his ERA to 0.54 this season. Hes struck out 14 of the last 25 hitters he has faced and opponents have a .140 average against him this season. He recorded his third save in three chances this year.Gregor Blanco was the catalyst yet again. He singled to start a three-run first inning, he hit a slow roller than resulted in a two-run error in the sixth andsurprise, surprisehe hit a solo home run in the fifth inning.Blancos shot was the Giants first in nine games and stopped a homerless streak that spanned 289 at-batsalmost a half-season for a position player.Starting pitching reportBumgarner (7-4) gave up four earned runs in six innings and didnt look comfortable while trying to incorporate an apparent adjustment in his delivery. He aligned his shoulders on a 45-degree angle away from the plate.It didnt work early, as the Padres tagged him for two doubles and a triple in a two-run first inning. Bumgarner pitched around a walk in each of his next three innings but he never settled into one of his signature grooves. Cameron Maybin launched a solo home run in the fifth and Bumgarner did well to limit the damage to one run in the sixth.The left-hander loaded the bases with no outs when Carlos Quentin singled off third baseman Joaquin Arias glove, Jesus Guzman lined a single to right field and Logan Forsythe drew a five-pitch walk. Bumgarner recovered by striking out Nick Hundley on three pitches, blowing him away with a high fastball. After an RBI groundout, Bumgarner ended his afternoon by getting pinch hitter Yonder Alonso to foul out to Arias.Bullpen reportClay Hensley gave up a triple to Chris Denorfia, who scored on a ground out in the seventh inning. But Hensleys slow curve was working as he recorded five outs.Hensley left two baserunners in the eighth for Javier Lopez, who stranded them when he tagged out pinch hitter Mark Kotsay after fielding his tapper down the first base line.Then it was Romos turn in the ninth.At the plateThe Giants jumped on left-hander Clayton Richard in a three-run first inning. Blanco and Ryan Theriot singled, Melky Cabrera hit a ground-rule double that skipped over the left field wall, Buster Posey hit a sacrifice fly and Cabrera scored on a passed ball.But the Giants fell silent. Nobody touched second base until Blancos fly ball barely cleared the scoreboard in right field in the fifth inning. It was Blancos fourth home run in 993 career plate appearances, so he would seem to be an unlikely candidate to hit the clubs first longball in nine games.Then again, Blanco owns the only home run by a Giant in the clubs last 19 games at AT&T Park.Blancos homer gave the Giants a 4-2 lead. After Maybin went deep to make it a one-run game again, the Giants used little ball and took advantage of an error to score a pair in the sixth.Brett Pill started the rally with his second single of the game, Brandon Crawford reached on an infield single, both runners advanced on Bumgarners sacrifice and Blanco followed with a slow roller that went under Forsythes glove to score a pair.Angel Pagan singled in the fourth inning, extending his hitting streak to 14 games. Amazingly, hes hit safely in 45 of his last 47 games.In fieldFor the first five innings, you would have no clue the Giants and Padres ranked 1-2 in errors among NL clubs. Both clubs made bunches of highlight plays, none better than shortstop Brandon Crawfords diving stop to deny Jesus Guzman leading off the fourth.Crawford also ranged up the middle and shoveled his pass to Ryan Theriot to get a forceout that got Bumgarner out of a jam in the second inning.Forsythes two-run error in the sixth turned out to be a game changer, though.AttendanceThe Padres announced 22,269 paid. They moved most Wednesday games to 3:30 p.m. starts because folks seem to like em here. And it doesnt matter if they arent in prime time TV, since half of San Diego County cant get Padres games on their cable system anyway. (Seriously.)Up nextThe Giants finish their three-game series in the land of the Baja taco. Itll be right-hander Matt Cain (6-2, 2.62) vs. right-hander Edinson Volquez (2-5. 3.42).Cain is 75-75 in his career. With a victory, he could move over .500 for the first time since May 13, 2007, when he was a 22-year-old with a 17-16 record.