Salazar Leads Padres Over Brewers
Posted: 2:02 am CDT August 2, 2009
San Diego, CA -- (Sports Network) - Oscar Salazar had the go-ahead pinch-hit double in the sixth inning, as the San Diego Padres outlasted Milwaukee, 4-2, in the second of three games with the Brewers.Tony Gwynn, Jr. and Kevin Kouzmanoff each had two hits and an RBI for the Padres, who extended their winning streak five games. Will Venable had two hits and homered for the third consecutive game. Clayton Richard, one of the four pitchers San Diego acquired from the White Sox in the Jake Peavy trade, made his Padres debut and allowed one run -- a Prince Fielder homer -- in 5 2/3 innings. Richard didn't factor into the decision, as Greg Burke (3-3) took the win for getting the final out of the sixth. "I'm excited to be here," Richard said. "Anxious for the opportunity to help contribute. It was a fun day, a fun win." Heath Bell tossed a scoreless ninth for his 26th save. Casey McGehee also homered for Milwaukee, which has dropped five of its last seven. Brewers starter Mike Burns (2-4) took the loss after giving up three runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 frames. "I felt like I threw the ball all right," Burns said. "Bad approach with the second inning to Venable, I went away from my game plan, which kind of cost me. Other than that, I felt like I established the fastball all right, and went after them." Venable's one-out solo shot in the second inning got the Padres on the board, while Kouzmanoff's sacrifice fly in the fifth, which plated Gwynn, made it a 2-0 game. Fielder homered with two down in the sixth, which chased Richard from the game. Burke came in and surrendered a solo homer to McGehee and walked Mike Cameron, but got J.J. Hardy to line out to end the frame. But San Diego grabbed the lead back in the bottom half, as Everth Cabrera hit a two-out triple. Salazar came in to pinch-hit and smacked a double to left. Gwynn's RBI single off Claudio Vargas in the eighth provided San Diego a 4-2 edge, and Bell worked around a leadoff single by McGehee in the ninth to seal the win. Game Notes Vargas, who the Brewers acquired from the Dodgers in a trade, was added to the team's roster Saturday...Prior to Venable's recent homer binge, he had hit just one homer in 38 previous games this season...The Padres are expected to release pitcher Mark Prior from his minor league contract soon. Prior had not made sufficient progress in coming back from shoulder surgeries and subsequent soreness.
Copyright 2009 Courtesy of The Sports Network.






