News
Giles guides Padres to walk-off win
Outfielder rips game-winning double in 10th; Geer shuts door
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
05/06/09 2:30 AM ET
SAN DIEGO -- His manager called it a "Brian Giles game," meaning that the at-bats and production the Padres' leadoff hitter gave his team Tuesday were something akin to what Giles has done in the past, not the present.Giles, who entered the game hitting .153, had two walks and two hits in a 2-1 victory over Colorado at PETCO Park in 10 innings, none more important than a game-winning double in his final at-bat.
"That is more of the norm for Brian," Padres manager Bud Black said. "We've got to get him going, there's no secret to that. He has got to be a part of this offense when we start clicking."
That hadn't been the case through the first 26 games of the season, during which Giles has run into his share of tough luck, or, depending on your view or opinion, bad luck -- at-bats where Giles might hit the ball hard and be left with nothing.
Or, as is the case with any slump, there were times where Giles pressed, chasing pitches out of the strike zone, and where he wouldn't resemble in the least the player who came into the season with a career .402 on-base percentage.
"It's going to happen," Giles said. "You want to have good at-bats. Going back to the Pittsburgh weekend [April 24-26] I felt like I've had good at-bats. I got a couple of hits tonight, hopefully it will snowball."
The Padres (12-15) had lost their past six before Tuesday's game and 12 of their past 14, so they would like for a snowball effect to happen on the pitching side as well, such as if they can get another performance like they did from starter Josh Geer and reliever Heath Bell.
Geer took a shutout into the eighth inning before allowing a home run to Colorado's catcher, Chris Iannetta. Geer was left with a no-decision, but that certainly didn't take the shine off a start during which he allowed five hits over eight innings.
"He had command of his fastball, pitched to both sides of the plate, changed speeds and kept them off-balance," Black said. "He has a good feel for what he needed to do as a pitcher. He's a pretty heady pitcher."
That was evident in the seventh inning, when Todd Helton bounced a single into left field and then advanced to third on Brad Hawpe's double. Representing the tying run, Helton was thrown out at the plate by shortstop Luis Rodriguez on a ground ball, and then Troy Tulowitzki hit into an inning-ending double-play.
"We had some big double plays, the defense helped me out a lot," said Geer, who had two walks and three strikeouts in the 108-pitch effort.
The start was reminiscent of Geer's first start with the Padres this season in Philadelphia on April 18, when he was promoted from Triple-A Portland to replace Walter Silva after Silva suffered a strained right forearm.
In a hitting environment -- Citizens Bank Park, which is friendlier than PETCO Park -- Geer allowed one earned run over seven innings in a game the bullpen lost. He worked fast, threw a lot of strikes and, as he always does, pitched to contact.
"I don't like walks. And they know I'm a contact pitcher, so that means sometimes you have to work backwards," Geer said. "Sometimes that works in your favor."
Bell, who might well be Geer's polar opposite, made his third appearance since April 18 when he entered the tie game in the ninth inning. Bell, who earned seven saves in the first 12 games but hadn't pitched much during the Padres' slump, looked as sharp as ever.
The closer faced seven batters in his two innings of relief, allowing one hit to go with his four strikeouts en route to picking up the victory, his first of the season.
"We felt that because of his infrequent use over the last 10 days, we felt he could go two innings," Black said. "It's dangerous to do it all the time, but we felt it was the right move at that time."
In the 10th inning, pinch-hitter Edgar Gonzalez walked with one out and then scored after Giles worked an eight-pitch at-bat from reliever Matt Daley that included four foul balls. As Black said, it was a "Brian Giles game."
"It's very big," Giles said of the victory. "If you look back the last couple of weeks, we didn't get the breaks we did the first two weeks. We weren't playing bad baseball."
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
