Despite being fueled by four home run balls and a strong bullpen outing, Santiago Casilla could not seal the deal in the ninth inning as the San Diego Padres scored two in the bottom of the tenth to win 7-6, stealing yet another game from the team with the best record in baseball.
San Diego's game-winning run came due to a Casilla balk, not because to an illegal pick-off or a move of that variety, but due to his right cleat getting stuck in the pitcher's mound, the first time he has blown a save in that fashion in his career.
San Francisco's bullpen as a collective unit has blown 18 saves, and Casilla is responsible for five of those, including tonight's stumble.
Before this blown save, Casilla had been one of San Francisco's most dependable relievers out of the pen, recording his last nine save opportunities going back to June 1st.
This outing was Casilla's first since July 9th against the Arizona Diamondbacks and coupled with the All-Star Break, the closer's shaky performance may have been due in large part to rust.
While Casilla's blown save will most likely not be the straw that broke the camel's back, it may be the game which triggers Bruce Bochy to start leaning towards a shift in the pecking order of the bullpen.
Aside from Casilla, the bullpen before the tenth inning pitched wonderfully, combining to hold the Padres scoreless for four innings following starter Jeff Samardzija's departure after the fifth inning.
Sergio Romo was especially impressive, as in only his fourth game back from the disabled list, the veteran struck out Wil Myers, who has been on fire as of late, and Matt Kemp on a two-seam fastball similar to the one Romo threw to Miguel Cabrera to end the 2012 World Series.
Bochy's decision as to who will be the closer may depend on how well Casilla and Romo perform over the next couple of appearances.
If change does become necessary, Bochy will be confident in handing the ball over to someone who already knows and has handled the closer role.
Just like his closer, Samardzija didn't have his sharpest stuff on the mound and the Padres taxed him for five runs in his first three innings of work.
The long ball continued to haunt The Shark, as the right-hander surrendered his 16th and 17th home runs of the season.
As one may recall, Samardzija allowed a major league-leading 29 home runs last season, and he is currently on pace to allow 30 home runs by season's end if he keeps giving up dingers at this rate.
With Samardzija struggling, the San Francisco bats came to the rescue and were able to erase The Shark's debts by the time he was taken out of the ballgame.
Ángel Pagan knocked in two runs with his fifth home run of the season, which tied a San Francisco career-high although it is only July.
Buster Posey drove in one of two runs on the day in the fifth with a double, and in the sixth, Mac Williamson and Ramiro Peña flexed their won muscles with a pair of back-to-back jacks, Williamson's sixth of the season and Peña's first of the season and as a Giant.
Posey struck again in the tenth, giving the Giants their one and only lead of the game with an opposite-field home run right into Petco Park's home run deck. The lead didn't last too long.
Right fielder Hunter Pence left his first rehab game with the Sacramento River Cats in the after aggravating his injured right hamstring.
A video from a fan in the crowd shows Pence hitting a single, then reaching for the right hamstring after arriving at first base.
Pence was removed from the game for a pinch runner following the discomfort.
While the right fielder was running down the line, he did not limp or suddenly move due to pain, but rather with a light jog, so as to imply that he was capable of running, but not to his comfort level.
Pence was also hit with a curveball in the first inning.
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