Giants aim to pitch themselves to sweep of Padres
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(SportsNetwork.com) - Pitching has been key to a five-game winning streak for the San Francisco Giants and they'll shoot for a three-game sweep Wednesday afternoon versus the San Diego Padres.
The Giants have posted three straight shutout victories and handed the Padres a 6-0 defeat Tuesday at AT&T Park behind Ryan Vogelsong's seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball. He struck out four and walked two for his first win of the season.
"He had good stuff... He did a terrific job," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Vogelsong. "He pounded the strike zone very well. That's vintage (Vogelsong)."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vogelsong joined starters Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum and Tim Hudson as winners during this victory streak.
Joe Panik homered, Brandon Crawford went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Matt Duffy added two hits with an RBI for the Giants, who have outscored their opponents 13-0 in the past three games.
San Francisco will host the Miami Marlins for four games next and has a 9-6 record in the Bay Area. The Giants have won eight in a row at home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chris Heston looks to keep the Giants' win streak intact when he toes the rubber Wednesday. Heston is 2-2 with a 2.51 earned run average in five starts and did not record a decision in a 3-2 win over the LA Angels on Friday, as he held the visitors to a run over 6 1/3 innings.
Heston, who bounced back from a rough start at Colorado and allowed six runs and 11 hits in 5 1/3 frames, faced the Padres just once in his career and lasted four innings, charged with three runs and six hits.
The Padres have dropped back-to-back games since winning three straight and hope to salvage the finale of this series.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Andrew Cashner continued to struggle on the mound and fell to 1-5 after he surrendered six runs, four of which were earned, and seven hits across six innings. He fanned three batters and walked three.
"I left a lot of balls over the middle of the plate and didn't really give our offense a chance tonight," Cashner said. "I hung a lot of sliders and my fastball was down the middle."
Cory Spangenberg, Yangervis Solarte, Justin Upton and Jedd Gyorko all singled for the Padres, who have lost four in a row on the road and nine of 13 overall. San Diego still has Arizona and Seattle to visit on this road trip.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Padres will send Ian Kennedy to the mound Wednesday to play stopper and he is 1-1 with a 7.11 earned run average in three starts. Kennedy won for the first time this season in a 14-3 decision over the Rockies and yielded a pair of runs in six innings, striking out six and walking two.
It was a far better performance for Kennedy, who was tagged for eight runs in 4 1/3 innings of an 11-8 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 25. The right-hander lasted only 2 1/3 innings versus San Francisco in his season debut on April 9 and left the game with a hamstring injury.
In 21 career starts against the NL West-rival Giants, Kennedy is 9-4 with a 2.48 ERA.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}San Diego took three of four from the Giants in early April.