Giants falter again as Dodgers, Padres win

Associated Press

Padres 2, Pirates 1

Trevor Hoffman became baseball’s career saves leader, earning No. 479 to pass Lee Smith and help the NL West-leading Padres get the win.

With the sellout crowd of 41,932 on its feet and cheering, the 38-year-old Hoffman jogged in from the bullpen, staring at the ground the whole way, with AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” blaring, as it has for each of his home save opportunities since July 25, 1998.

Hoffman got his NL-leading 43rd save in 48 chances. He was mobbed by his teammates after NL batting leader Freddy Sanchez grounded out to end the game.

Clay Hensley (11-11), backed by impressive home runs from Russell Branyan and Josh Bard, struck out a career-high nine in winning his third straight start for San Diego, which came into the game with a 1 1/2-game lead over the second-place Dodgers.

Juan Perez (0-1) got the loss.

Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 1

Nomar Garciaparra hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers the win.

Garciaparra hit a 2-1 pitch from Luis Vizcaino (4-6) over the left-center field fence for his 19th homer of the season.

It was Garciaparra who hit a two-run homer in the 10th Monday night in an 11-10 victory over San Diego after the Dodgers matched a big league record by hitting four consecutive homers in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game.

The Dodgers remained 1 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Padres and a half-game behind Philadelphia in the wild-card race.

Takashi Saito (6-2) pitched a perfect ninth to earn the victory.

Brewers 5, Giants 3

Ben Sheets pitched eight solid innings, Mike Rivera hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth and the Brewers completed a four-game sweep.

The loss coupled with San Diego’s 2-1 win over the Pirates eliminated San Francisco from the NL West race. The Giants trail the Phillies by seven for the wild card with seven to go.

Sheets (6-7) yielded two runs and five hits for Milwaukee, which has won five straight.

Francisco Cordero worked the ninth for his 16th save in 16 chances since joining the Brewers on July 28.

Matt Cain (13-11) gave up five runs and seven hits with five walks in seven innings for San Francisco. Giants slugger Barry Bonds did not play.

Giants right fielder Moises Alou picked up his 2,000th career hit with a bloop double in the second inning.

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