SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - After striking out in a swing at history during the ninth inning, Matt Szczur took a simpler approach in the 11th.
Szczur blooped a tiebreaking single for his fourth hit of the game after coming off the bench, and the San Diego Padres outlasted the San Francisco Giants 12-9 on Friday night.
Szczur entered as part of a double switch in the fourth and set a career high for hits. He finished a home run shy of becoming the first player since at least 1913 to hit for the cycle after not starting the game.
“In the ninth, I was (going for it), for sure,” Szczur said. “But in the 11th, I was just trying to get on base and make things happen.”
The Padres blew a three-run lead with two outs in the ninth when Giants pinch-hitter Conor Gillaspie homered off closer Brandon Maurer, but San Diego won in extra innings after scoring off George Kontos (0-4).
Hunter Renfroe singled leading off the 11th. Erick Aybar walked and, after both runners moved up on a sacrifice, Szczur dumped a 3-1 pitch into left field. Jose Pirela and Carlos Asuaje followed with consecutive RBI singles.
“That was as resilient as we’ve been all year,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “The guys kept fighting, taking good at-bats. It was a fun night.”
Hector Sanchez homered and had three hits against his former team.
Wil Myers hit his 18th home run, Pirela added four hits and two RBIs, and San Diego won for the 16th time in the last 21 games against San Francisco.
Phil Maton (2-0) retired six batters in a game that ended after midnight on the West Coast.
Hunter Pence had three hits and two RBIs for the Giants. Brandon Crawford added a pair of RBI singles.
San Francisco wasted leads of 4-0 and 6-2 and trailed 9-6 before scoring three times in the ninth off Maurer, all with two outs. Crawford drove in one run before Gillaspie’s two-run homer forced extra innings.
“It was quite a comeback there and it was a shame we couldn’t find a way to win that ballgame,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “To tie that game in the ninth, you’d like to think the momentum has now swung over and you’ll find a way to win.”
GIANT THORN IN THEIR SIDE
Sanchez tormented his old team again, homering off starter Jeff Samardzija in the fourth and adding an RBI double in the fifth. Sanchez, who also singled in the seventh, has five home runs and is 11 for 23 in 10 career games against San Francisco, where he spent his first five seasons. “It’s just my job,” he said. “It’s kind of fun to do it and show what I can do.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: RHP Craig Stammen left the game after injuring his hamstring while running the bases in the fifth. … Aybar fouled a ball off his foot and won’t start Saturday afternoon. … OF Travis Jankowski will continue his rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso. Jankowski (right foot bone bruise) had been working out in the Arizona Rookie League.
Giants: San Francisco closer Mark Melancon (right pronator strain) isn’t likely to begin a rehab assignment until the end of the month.
UP NEXT
Giants LHP Matt Moore (3-10, 5.81 ERA) pitches Saturday in the middle game of the series. Moore is the first San Francisco pitcher to lose five consecutive home starts since Ryan Vogelsong in 2011. The Padres will go with RHP Luis Perdomo (4-5, 4.94). He has induced 17 groundball double plays this season, fourth-most in the majors.
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