Giants Vs. Padres, Final Score: San Francisco rallies late to win 7-5

The San Francisco Giants rallied late to defeat the Padres on Sunday afternoon, winning by a score of 7-5. The club trailed 5-2 entering the eighth inning, but they were able to take advantage of the San Diego bullpen. The Giants are now 93-66 this season with three games left on the schedule.

Brandon Belt drove home the first run of the eighth inning with a single to right field that plated Francisco Peguero. Brandon Crawford followed with a sac fly to cut the deficit to 5-4. Xavier Nady came up in the ninth and hit a solo home run to tie the game. Hunter Pence then hit a two-run homer off Houston Street to give San Francisco a 7-5 lead they would not relinquish. Sergio Romo entered for the bottom half of the ninth inning and allowed just one hit as he recorded his 13th save of the season.

The Giants now head to Los Angeles for a three-game series with the Dodgers. Los Angeles is currently battling for the second wild card spot in the National League.

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Giants vs. Padres game preview: Tim Lincecum takes bump in rubber match

The San Francisco Giants are looking for the series win Sunday afternoon against the San Diego Padres, sending two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum to the mound in the rubber match at Petco Park.

Lincecum (10-15, 5.15 ERA) allowed seven runs while walking four in just four innings of work during a 7-2 loss to Arizona on Tuesday. He was 7-5 with a 3.67 ERA with three consecutive victories in his 12 starts before that. Lincecum is 1-1 with a 4.34 ERA in three outings against San Diego this year.

Bud Black and the Padres will counter with Edinson Volquez (11-11, 4.13), who tossed seven scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday en route to a 2-1 win. Volquez has now gone 4-4 with a 7.27 ERA over his last nine outings.

San Francisco is expected to give a number of regular starters the day off on Sunday, including Buster Posey and Marco Scutaro. They are four games back of the Washington Nationals for the best record in the NL with four games left on the schedule.

First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.

San Francisco vs. San Diego final: Padres pitching keeps Giants at bay, 7-3

It was a rough night for San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Looking to secure his 17th win of the year, he gave up five runs in four innings pitched against the San Diego Padres, and that would be enough for the Padres to ultimately take a 7-3 victory.

After a three-run homer by Hunter Pence in the first inning, that would be it for San Francisco's offense on the night. They were kept off the scoreboard by the Padres pitching staff, led by starter Eric Stults. Brad Penny entered the game to pitch for the Giants after Bumgarner was pulled. He fared about as well as his teammate, lasting only one inning and giving up an additional two runs in the bargain.

The loss for the Giants - and, conversely, the win by the Padres - is meaningless. San Francisco has the NL West title locked up and San Diego is starting to book tee times, as the Padres are out of the playoff hunt.

They two teams will wrap up their series tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. PST. Expected to take the mound are the Giants' Tim Lincecum (10-15) and the Padres' Edinson Volquez (11-11).

Giants vs. Padres lineups: Madison Bumgarner goes for 17th win

The San Francisco Giants continue their three-game series against the San Diego Padres Saturday night in Petco Park. The Giants have five games left in the season and, with the division clinched, only have an outside shot at the best record in the National League to play for. San Francisco trails the Nationals and Reds by three games.

Madison Bumgarner takes the hill for the Giants with 16-10 record and 3.26 ERA. Bumgarner boasts the 11th-best ERA in the NL, although he has seen it rise in September. Bumgarner is 2-1 with a 4.84 ERA for the month. He faced the Padres just seven days ago, going 5⅔ innings while allowing three runs in a win.

The Padres send Eric Stults to the mound. Stults is 7-3 with a 2.81 ERA on the year. He beat the Giants in his last outing, recording a quality start by going seven innings while allowing three runs on seven hits.

The game is set to begin at 5:25 PT.

Full lineups, via baseballpress.com:

Giants

1. Angel Pagan (S) CF

2. Marco Scutaro (R) 2B

3. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B

4. Buster Posey (R) C

5. Hunter Pence (R) RF

6. Xavier Nady (R) LF

7. Brandon Belt (L) 1B

8. Joaquin Arias (R) SS

9. Madison Bumgarner (R) P

Padres

1. Chris Denorfia (R) RF

2. Logan Forsythe (R) 2B

3. Chase Headley (S) 3B

4. Yasmani Grandal (S) C

5. Jesus Guzman (R) LF

6. Yonder Alonso (L) 1B

7. Cameron Maybin (R) CF

8. Everth Cabrera (S) SS

9. Eric Stults (L) P

Giants Vs. Padres, game preview: San Francisco looks for momentum as season draws down

The San Francisco Giants face the San Diego Padres in Game 2 of a three0game series on Saturday. The Giants have already captured the NL West division crown, and finish out their season looking to stay sharp and healthy heading in to the postseason.

Madison Bumgarner (16-10, 3.26 ERA) will pitch for San Francisco, taking on Eric Stults (7-3, 2.81 ERA) for San Diego. Bumgarner is 3-0 in four starts against the Padres in 2012, posting a 3.08 ERA and allowing 24 hits over 26⅓ innings.

Buster Posey is batting .334 and is currently in the lead for the National League batting title. He's just ahead of Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates, batting .330. Both men are behind San Francisco's Melky Cabrera, who was disqualified from the title at his own request. Cabrera is currently serving a 50-game suspension. Posey has only four at-bats against Stults, going 2-for-4.

First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. PT.

Buster Posey unlikely to catch Tim Lincecum in playoffs

It's still unknown if Tim Lincecum will be in the Giants' postseason rotation, but if he is, it will be Hector Sanchez, not Buster Posey doing the catching.

Buster Posey probably won't catch Tim Lincecum in playoffs

Hector Sanchez will catch Tim Lincecum's final regular season game, all but assuring the two will be paired up during the playoffs.

Giants Vs. Padres, Starting Lineups: Ryan Vogelsong starts for San Francisco

As the San Francisco Giants continue preparations for the 2012 MLB playoffs, manager Bruce Bochy has a couple of ways to handle his ball club. On one hand, the players could probably benefit from having a game or two off to rest their bodies after nearly six months of play. On the other, it's tough to just flip a switch in baseball and get back into the swing of things on any given night.

Bochy has elected to play all of his everyday regulars on Friday night as the Giants travel to San Diego to take on the Padres. Ryan Vogelsong will make the start, and he has not pitched well in recent months. In his last three starts, Vogelsong is 1-2 with a 6.91 ERA over 14 1/3 innings of work. Young southpaw Andrew Werner will make the start for San Diego.

The lineups for tonight's game have been released.

Giants:

1. Angel Pagan (S) CF
2. Marco Scutaro (R) 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Hunter Pence (R) RF
6. Xavier Nady (R) LF
7. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
8. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
9. Ryan Vogelsong (R) P

Padres:

1. Everth Cabrera (S) SS
2. Will Venable (L) RF
3. Chase Headley (S) 3B
4. Yonder Alonso (L) 1B
5. Chris Denorfia (R) LF
6. Cameron Maybin (R) CF
7. John Baker (L) C
8. Andy Parrino (S) 2B
9. Andrew Werner (L) P

First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.

N.L. batting title race: Buster Posey takes lead over Andrew McCutchen

After his 2-4 day on Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey took the lead in the race for the NL batting title from Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen.

Posey's batting average rose to .333 after a pair of singles and a run scored in the Giants 7-3 victory, while McCutchen had an 0-4 day against the New York Mets on Thursday night, dropping his average to .331 as part of the 6-5 loss.

Both men have six games left on their schedule, with the Giants taking on the Padres in San Diego on Friday, where Posey has a .310 average (9-29) with three homers and eight RBI in his career. McCutchen and the Pirates host the Reds at PNC Park, where he is batting .338 this season (91-269) with 14 home runs and 53 RBI.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy could decide to rest Posey before the postseason as they have already clinched the division and are four games behind the Washington Nationals for the best record in the National League. But if McCutchen has a few more 0-4 days, any rest could work in Posey's favor as he looks for his first batting title.

Giants vs. Padres, game preview: Ryan Vogelsong looks for second straight win

The San Diego Padres play host to the San Francisco Giants on Friday as the Black and Orange look to close out their regular season as confident as possible.

Ryan Vogelsong (13-9, 3.58 ERA) gets the start for San Francisco, looking to get out of his recent funk. He is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA against the Padres at AT&T Park this year, but he allowed three runs on eight hits in three innings in his last start in San Diego, taking the 7-1 loss. Vogelsong is 2-4 with a 10.31 ERA over his last 10 starts at Petco Park. He held the Padres to five runs in six innings in the 5-1 win on Friday.

San Diego will counter with rookie Andrew Werner (2-2, 4.64). This will be his second straight start against San Francisco, allowing five runs in 3.2 innings of an 8-4 loss on Saturday.

First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.

Giants vs. Padres, series preview: San Francisco begins final road trip in San Diego

The Giants begin a six-game road trip of Friday against the San Diego Padres.