SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Padres are getting pretty good at
late-inning rallies.
Rookie Khalil Greene hit an RBI triple to cap a three-run eighth
inning that carried the Padres to a 5-4 win over the Montreal Expos
on Wednesday night.
It was the fifth time this season the Padres won in their last
at-bat, four of them at home.
"That was a great comeback," manager Bruce Bochy said. "It
wasn't real pretty, but guys were hustling. Greenie came through
with a huge one."
Ramon Hernandez came racing around from first on Greene's triple
to right-center off Luis Ayala (0-4). Hernandez had reached on an
RBI grounder, the second straight close play at first. Jay Payton
hit an infield single to drive in the other run, although replays
showed he was out by a step.
"To be a successful team, wins like that are important,"
Greene said. "To know that when you're down, that you have a
chance at any time to still come back and win and be confident in
the late innings. So far throughout the season, we've done that."
Brian Giles, who started the rally with a leadoff single off
Rigo Beltran, also hit a solo homer in the fifth.
Antonio Osuna (1-0) pitched the eighth for the win, which put
the Padres four games above .500 for the first time since May 25,
2001. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his second save in as
many nights, and fifth in six chances.
Montreal's Jamey Carroll had a two-run double among his
career-high four hits. He finished 4-for-5. Andy Fox hit a solo
homer in the first, and the Expos -- baseball's worst-hitting team --
set a season high with 13 hits.
But the Expos were frustrated again.
"I mean, four hits or no hits, it doesn't matter. We lost,"
Carroll said. "We're hitting the ball. I'm not sure how many we
had, but we were sure swinging the bats better and we still came
away with a loss. It's frustrating."
Manager Frank Robinson added: "We scored enough runs to win
tonight. We just didn't get the job done in the eighth inning.
That's my fault. I'll take that one myself because I didn't put the
right people out there to get the job done."
Montreal came in batting just .201 with 36 runs scored after
being shut out Tuesday night for the sixth time this season.
Can it get any worse?
"Stick around," Robinson said. "Yeah, it can get worse. It
can get better. I hope that it will get better before it gets
worse."
The Expos' three-run rally in the sixth chased starter Adam
Eaton and erased a 2-1 lead that San Diego built on homers by Phil
Nevin and Giles.
Eaton failed to get an out in the sixth. He allowed singles to
Juan Rivera and Brian Schneider, then hit Valentino Pascucci on the
left shoulder to load the bases. Endy Chavez singled up the middle
to tie the score at 2 and chase Eaton.
Scott Linebrink came on and got pinch-hitter Ron Calloway to fly
out to right, but Carroll hit a grounder down the line past diving
third baseman Sean Burroughs for a 4-2 lead.
Eaton gave up 10 hits and four runs, struck out five and walked
none.
Nevin homered in the fourth, and Giles in the fifth -- both to
right-center, the deepest part of the park, and both off Claudio
Vargas, who allowed two runs and four hits in five innings. Vargas
also got his first big league hit, a single to right-center in the
third.
Game notes
The crowd of 24,079 was the smallest in 12 games at Petco
Park. ... SS Orlando Cabrera's streak of 151 straight starts ended,
but he replaced Fox starting the bottom of the seventh, for his
190th straight game. ... Expos RHP John Patterson was put on the
15-day disabled list a day after straining a groin muscle. The
Expos recalled right-hander T.J. Tucker from Triple-A Edmonton, who
will pitch in long relief while Sun-woo Kim will start in
Patterson's spot Sunday in Los Angeles. ... Bochy is impressed with
the hot start by Mark Loretta. "We haven't seen this kind of
consistency since Tony Gwynn," Bochy said.