San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey watches his home run during the seventh inning of the baseball game against the San Diego Padres on Friday, July 14, 2017, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, July 14, 2017

Denard Span drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth, Buster Posey’s solo home run put the Giants ahead to stay, and San Francisco held on for a 5-4 NL West win at San Diego’s Petco Park over the Padres.

San Francisco snapped a four-game losing streak in this matchup involving the two worst teams in the division – the Giants are mired in last place, while San Diego is four games ahead of them in fourth place.

After Johnny Cueto struggled in the first four innings, middle reliever Corey Gearrin (3-2) threw a scoreless fifth and was the pitcher of record when San Francisco surged ahead in the sixth.

From there, George Kontos, Steven Okert and Hunter Strickland combined to toss three scoreless innings before Sam Dyson gave up a run in the ninth, but earned his fourth save.

After pinch-hitter Miguel Gomez tied the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, Span’s two-out single put the Giants up 4-3 and chased Padres starter Clayton Richard (5-9).

With one out in the seventh, Posey – the National League’s starting catcher in the All-Star Game – blasted an estimated 429-foot shot to center for his 11th home run of the season and his first since June 22. Posey also had an RBI single in the first inning.

Gorkys Hernandez collected a career-high four hits and scored a run for San Francisco. Run-scoring singles by Posey and Cueto in the second inning gave the Giants a 2-0 lead.

Cueto departed after surrendering three runs and six hits in four innings, with five strikeouts and three walks.

On Saturday, left-hander Madison Biumgarner (0-3, 3.00) is slated for a return to the Giants’ rotation after spending three months on his first career visit to the disabled list. Bumgarner suffered a sprained left shoulder in a dirt bike accident on April 20.