By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Ian Kennedy came into Wednesday’s game with some serious ownage on the Giants. He had amassed a 10-4 career mark against the Giants to go along with a 2.42 earned-run average, with most of that coming from his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Not to mention that the Giants had lost 10 of their previous 11 home games, including a recent three-game sweep at the hands of an Arizona team that currently sports a losing record.

At least for one night, Posey put all of that to rest with one swing of the bat.

In the third inning, Posey took advantage of a mistake in location by Kennedy, and he made the San Diego starter pay dearly for his transgression, sending the knee-high pitch that caught too much of the plate into the left-field seats for a grand slam to help the Giants sail past the Padres, 6-0, before 41,744 fans at AT&T Park.

It was the fourth-career grand slam for Posey, who currently leads all National league catchers in the most recent All-Star voting, and it also broke him out of his own 0-for-9 skid.

“I love three-run homers, but grand slams are even better,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “(They are) always big for a staff, too. (After that), they (approached) the hitters a little different, I think.

“It was a huge hit; it just got us over the hump.”

That quickly took the pressure off of starter Ryan Vogelsong, who proceeded to glide his way to a stellar outing that saw him surrender only five hits through six shutout innings, striking out four hitters against only a pair of walks.

It was Vogelsong’s second straight scoreless start and has not given up a run in the last 12 2/3 innings, after he had dropped three decisions in a row prior to his shutout win over Seattle last Thursday to start the current roll that he’s on now.

The only time that he faced any real trouble was in the fourth, when a Justin Upton double put runners on second and third with nobody out.

He started his climb out of the hole by striking out Derek Norris, and then after fielding Will Venable’s grounder, he caught Yonder Alonso wandering too far off third base and initiated a rundown that eliminated Alonso from the bases.

He then finished the job by getting Will Middlebrooks to ground out, keeping intact the shutout that the bullpen would maintain.

“He was pitching real efficiently,” Bochy said. “He made some great pitches, and he kept his poise.”

The Giants added to their lead in the fourth. Susac hit one into the gap in right-center, and when Matt Kemp fumbled it on the warning track, that allowed the slow-footed catcher to make it to third standing up. The next batter, Gregor Blanco, singled up the middle to bring him in and extend the Giants’ lead to six.

A continuing development for the Giants involves lefty specialist Javier Lopez. He has clearly not lost his deft touch against lefties – they are 2-for-38 against him this season, and he has not surrendered a hit to the last 28 left-handers he has faced – but he has shown much more of an ability to get righties out as well.

That was on display in the top of the seventh, as he faced three straight right-handers and retired them in order. If that trend continues, that is expected to save the Giants’ bullpen a considerable amount of wear and tear down the stretch while also forcing opposing managers to think longer about pinch-hitting scenarios in the later innings.

NOTES: With a double to go along with his triple on Wednesday, Susac extended his hitting streak to a career-high six games. On the other hand, Matt Duffy saw his eight-game hit streak – another career-high – come to an end, as he went 0-for-3 with a walk.