SAN FRANCISCO _ On the mound and at the plate, a cloudless afternoon at AT&T Park belonged to the San Francisco Giants' pitchers. Then the ninth inning arrived.
With the Padres down to their final two outs, Hector Sanchez stung his former team for the second consecutive game. A Giants backup catcher for parts of five seasons, he has worked almost exclusively in pinch-hit duty this year. On Saturday, he drew a pinch-hit, bases-loaded walk during an eight-run inning.
Pinch-hitting again Sunday, Sanchez redirected a Mark Melancon cutter, sending a game-tying, two-run blast to the right-field arcade. That, combined with a sparkling performance from the Padres bullpen, set the stage for this: In the top of the 12th, Wil Myers punished the Giants for the second consecutive game, his three-run homer capping a 5-2, series-clinching victory.
The Padres offense, just hours after scoring its most runs ever here, had been stymied up until Melancon's entrance. The Giants had done better, though not by much.
Both starting pitchers, in fact, made as much noise at the plate as their teammates. Padres left-hander Clayton Richard singled twice in as many at-bats, each hit deflecting off the right-field wall. Giants left-hander Ty Blach lifted a sacrifice fly to center.
But before the ninth, it was the Giants who had made it to home plate, not the Padres. Through seven innings, the visitors had mustered only three hits.
The Padres recorded the first of their knocks when Richard singled with one out in the third. Leadoff batter Manuel Margot reached on a fielder's choice, moved to second on Erick Aybar's walk and stole third. He remained at the bag as Wil Myers' line drive soared to deep center and into the mitt of Gorkys Hernandez.
An even juicier opportunity presented itself in the fourth. Austin Hedges doubled with one out. Ryan Schimpf walked. But Hunter Renfroe flied out to foul territory, and Jabari Blash grounded out.
The Giants, too, fell short multiple times with runners in scoring position. With two outs in the second, Richard induced a fly out to. He pitched around a one-out double in the third. In the fourth, he recovered from a leadoff single with an inning-ending double play.
The bottom of the fifth brought a bout of imprecision. Richard hit the first batter, putting Joe Panik on. Gorkys Hernandez doubled, moving Panik to third. Richard hung an 0-2 breaking ball. Blach drove in the game's first run.
In the sixth, Richard again put the leadoff man on, walking Hunter Pence. Two at-bats later, the lefty delivered a change-up on the outer half of the plate. Michael Morse drilled an opposite-field double. Pence scored. Padres manager Andy Green summoned bullpen stalwart Brad Hand.
Hand kept the Padres in the game, retiring six batters without allowing a baserunner. The offense, however, remained inert as Blach polished off a gem.
Richard finished with 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He allowed six hits and a walk, but got eight groundouts and crisp defense behind him. He singled again in the top of the fifth, notching his third career two-hit game.
Blach responded by retiring the next nine batters. He finished with seven scoreless innings.
The Padres threatened with Blach out of the game. Margot opened the eighth with a single off Derek Law. Consecutive strikeouts by Aybar and Wil Myers ensued. Yangervis Solarte singled, placing runners on the corners. Hedges struck out. Law bounced off the mound as the crowd erupted.
An inning later, as Sanchez rounded the bases, stray cheers could be heard amid the boos. Once a Giants fan favorite, he'd stepped into the batter's box with a runner on; Luis Sardinas had reached on a fielding error.
In Melancon's 10th appearance this season, the subsequent drive was the first home run allowed by the closer. It was Sanchez's first of 2017, and his third career pinch-hit homer. His last came on June 15, 2014, when he still wore orange and black.
Following Hand on the mound, Brandon Maurer pitched 1 2/3 innings without permitting a run. Ryan Buchter followed with two scoreless frames. After Myers' home run, Jose Torres retired the side in the 12th.
