SF Giants squeeze by San Diego to run winning streak to three

Coming off a two-game sweep of the lowly Oakland Athletics, the baseball world could have been forgiven for thinking the SF Giants, who had been swept in a pair of four-game series by the Los Angeles Dodgers since the All-Star break, would struggle against the San Diego Padres.

The Giants don't seem to be interested in the predictions of the larger baseball establishment; in the first game of a three-game set in San Diego, they manufactured a run in middle innings and the pitching held up against a Padres lineup littered with standout hitters for a 1-0 San Francisco win.

The run came in the fourth inning, as the Giants - facing former American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell - scrapped together three straight singles before Thairo Estrada's sacrifice fly scored Evan Longoria for what ended up being the game's only run. The visitors actually had a chance to extend their lead in the frame, as the sacrifice was the first out and Joey Bart then walked to re-load the bases, but a strikeout and groundout prevented further damage.

On the hill for the Giants was left-hander Alex Wood. The veteran, coming off a rough outing against the Dodgers (nine hits and six runs in just over five innings) had likely his best start of the season, going six and one-third scoreless while scattering three hits and not walking a batter. He struck out five.

SF Giants kept Padres off the board thanks to a replay review

The third hit of the game for the Padres, with one out in the seventh, knocked Wood out of the game and saw righty John Brebbia enter. The first batter Brebbia faced, Ha-Seong Kim, appeared to tie the game with a double down the left field line; despite an excellent relay from left fielder Luis Gonzalez to shortstop Brandon Crawford to Bart at the plate, the runner was ruled safe. The Giants challenged, however, and on review it was determined that Bart's pick of the short hop and tag was just in time, keeping the Orange and Black in the lead.

From there, the Giants kept their hosts from scoring thanks to an inning-ending double play in the eighth and then shutdown pitching from closer Camilo Doval in the ninth, including a groundout from shiny new acquisition Juan Soto - who just a week ago had wished opposing pitchers "good luck" in facing the Padres lineup the rest of the way.