The fans were amped, the sun was shining, and the San Francisco Giants were back home at AT&T Park for the fourth of July. The only thing that would have made the day sweeter was a win over the San Diego Padres, but thanks to some early hits of ace Tim Lincecum that would not be the case as the Pads' dropped the G-Men by a score of 5-3.
Lincecum (L 6-7) lasted only five innings after giving up two runs in the first inning off a sacrifice fly from Chase Headley and an RBI single from Orlando Hudson. All in all Timmy gave up three earned runs off seven hits, with one walk and four punch outs.
Pablo Sandoval extended his hitting streak to 15 straight after going 3-4 with a double and a splash-down home run for the day, his eighth of the year. The Giants had 6 hits as a team, and Pablo accounted for 3 of them. Needless to say, Panda is hot right now.
The Giants started a rally in the bottom of the ninth off of Padres closer Heath Bell, starting with a Miguel Tejada double and a walk to Pat Burrell. Brandon Crawford hit an RBI single to make it 5-3, but couldn't get over the hump, falling by that score.
Clayton Richard (W 5-9) lasted for five innings as well, but allowed only two hits and no runs, along with three walks and two strikeouts. Will Veneble took Guillermo Mota deep in the eighth, which eventually bounced off the walkway into the Cove. Somehow the ball made it's way back into the stands and eventually on the field, delaying play for a few moments.
Cody Ross left the game in the sixth inning with a mild left hamstring strain. The injury isn't thought to be too serious and likely will be a day-to-day.
With the loss the Giants move to 48-38 on the year. Full box score can be found here.
All-Star Matt Cain (7-4 3.02 ERA) will take the mound tomorrow to face the Padres' Tim Stauffer (4-5 2.97). First pitch is set for 7:15 pm with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.
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