Peavy pitches into 7th; is admitted for observation

We're safe in the knowledge that some things are inevitable: death, taxes, bad remakes of good horror films, and Jake Peavy being "shaky". But the run the Giants are on defies explanation. Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park, Jay Peavy was good, the bullpen wasn't, the offense sputtered, and it just didn't matter.

The dude in the middle apparently did something good (AP Photo)

The Giants made it 13 wins in 14 tries, taming San Diego 4-3 in 10 innings to post their third straight sweep of the Padres this season. Let that sink in a bit. The Giants are 9-0 against a division rival, and even though that mark has been put up against the comic relief in a made-for-basic-cable disaster film ("Sweep-nado"?), it's still pretty darned impressive.

They've gone from a sub-.500 team to 30-19, have won five straight, and have in the process made San Diego's collective lives into a Felini film. The Friars are Charlie Brown incarnate, likeable enough but quite able to get the job done. They've lost to the Giants by one run five times this season, been shut out twice (both by 1-0 scores), and been held to one run on three other occasions. Mention the Giants to Padres fans and suicide hotlines light up.

It was Getaway Day for both teams and it seemed some of the Giants had taken an early flight to Denver. Already down two starters (Hunter Pence is still mending and Angel Pagan was DL'd this week), San Francisco Manager Bruce Bochy decided to heighten the challenge by leaving Buster Posey and Denard Span out of the line-up. Trevor Brown went behind the dish and the outfield consisted of Kelby Tomlinson, Gregor Blanco and Jarrett Parker.

Hidden camera footage from the Padres Clubhouse.

They were tested immediately. Peavy was Peavy in the top of the first. Yangervis Solarte slashed a one-out double and Melvin Upton's two-out single sent him homeward. Tomlinson fielded, charged, fired. Brown was waiting for Solarte like he was late for dinner. Side retired.

Some heads-up base running helped the Giants for their first run. Brandon Crawford singled in the second and sped around to third when Parker's grounder into a Padres overshift left it unguarded. Tomlinson cashed it in, flipping a single into short right.

Both starters settled down through the middle innings, with defense continuing to play a big role behind Peavy. He'd wind up scattering six hits and walking one during his tenure. Padres starter James Shields had similar successs, allowing five hits in his six frames. Plate umpire Mike winters was a friend to both, expanding the strike zone like it was made of silly putty. Hitters flailed and pitches bounf for both dugouts, and zeroes were plentiful.

Sheilds held the Giants in check until the sixth, when Blanco started things off with a triple off the number seven archway. Matt Duffy, whose previous career efforts against Sheilds approximated badminton in a wind tunnel, fouled off a would-be squeeze bunt then made that moot with and RBI screamer through the right side.

Alexei Amarista points to third base, which awaited Crawford an no one else. Oops. (Getty Images).

The insurance was welcome when Peavy gave up a tally on Alexi Ramirez's two-out single in the seventh, and Bochy came with the hook. Josh Osich struck out Alexei Amarista to retire the side with the Giants clinging to a 2-1 lead. 

Trevor Brown's one-out seventh-inning single off Carlos Villanueva was the last pitch the Padres reliever threw. Denard Span greeted Ryan Buchter with a double and the lead was back to two runs. Not for long. Osich channeled his inner Casilla, unleashing a walk and a two-run bomb in the eighth, and the rare Peavy victory evaporated in the the damp air of the cove.

The G-Men actually survived Santiago Casilla pitching the ninth (a double-play after Derek Norris's base hit help a lot) and the game rolled into extras tied at 3, where it appeared the Padres were finally going to break through. They sandwiched a walk and single against Javy Lopez around a sacrifice bunt to put runners at the corners. George Kontos got out of the jam, striking out Solarte and getting Matt Kemp to ground into a force play.

It was time to end this. Matt Duffy singled with one out, Hunter Pence flew out in a pinch hitting role, an that Crawford guy did it again. His drive over center fielder John Jay's head ended the game, the series and the homestand on a high note.

The Giants got 10 hits to the Padres' nine with Crawford, Duffy, Tomlinson and Blanco getting two apiece. 

Thursday is a day off, just the Giants' fourth in nearly seven weeks. After touring the Coors plant, looking for stray coinage at the US Mint or doing whatever it is you do when there's no snow in Denver, the Giants return to action Friday against the Rockies in that abomination known as Coors Field.

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