Thu Apr 10 01:29:14 2008

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Ortmeier comes through as Giants win on final at-bat again

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San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Dan Ortmeier's two-out double to the wall in center field scored pinch-runner Rajai Davis in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres.

Fred Lewis threw a runner out at the plate for San Francisco, which took the rubber match of the three-game set and beat the Padres for just the third time in the last 14 meetings. It was also the second straight walk-off win for the Giants, as Bengie Molina was the hero on Tuesday with a homer in the 11th inning of a 3-2 final.

Jonathan Sanchez struck out a career-best 10 over six-plus innings for the Giants, who picked up just their third win of the season. Sanchez gave up three hits and walked two.

Tyler Walker (1-0) struck out a pair in the ninth to get the victory.

Justin Germano surrendered four hits over seven innings for the Padres, but Heath Bell (0-1) was tagged with the loss thanks to Ortmeier's clutch smash.

The Padres had just four hits.

Molina singled to right to start the bottom of the ninth and was replaced by Davis, who stole second. Lewis grounded out, and Jose Castillo lined out to a leaping Tadahito Iguchi at second base, keeping Davis at second. Ortmeier then drove a pitch to dead center and a backtracking Jim Edmonds failed to come up with the ball as it caromed off the fence on a hop. Ortmeier, in turn, was mobbed by his teammates before he got to third base.

Good defense and pitching ruled the night at AT&T Park, with each team being denied rallies on several occasions. But the big moment in the field for the Giants came in the seventh. Edmonds and Khalil Greene singled to start the inning before Merkin Valdez replaced Sanchez on the mound.

Scott Hairston's bunt advanced the runners to second and third, and Josh Bard then lofted a fly ball into foul territory down the left-field line. Lewis made a backhand grab and fired to home plate, and the ball somehow bounced on an angle past Edmonds, who was tagged out by a stretching Molina.

The Padres had runners at second and third with nobody out in the fifth, but Bard and Germano fanned before Brian Giles flied out to end the inning.

Giles ran down a fly ball from Randy Winn to end the eighth inning, taking away an extra-base hit and likely the go-ahead run with Aaron Rowand on first following his two-out hit.

Game Notes

The Padres head to Los Angeles for a three-game series this weekend, while the Giants host St. Louis in a four-game set, starting Thursday...Five of the first nine games for the Giants have been decided by a run...Rich Aurilia had two hits for the Giants and has 1,091 in a San Francisco uniform, needing one more to tie Matt Williams for ninth place on the team's all-time list.