San Francisco – In the same ballpark where he won his 300th career game in 2004, Greg Maddux earned his 340th victory, outpitching someone nearly half his age to lead the San Diego Padres past the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Wednesday.
Maddux (7-4) won for the fourth time in five decisions, getting help from Jose Cruz Jr.’s go-ahead single in the eighth inning. That followed a two-out double by Marcus Giles.
“It’ll always be kind of cool,” he said of pitching in San Francisco. “I like the city. It’s a nice park.”
The Padres took the rubber game – all three matchups in the series were close and decided late, with the Giants winning Monday 4-3 in 11 innings and the Padres bouncing back with a 3-2, 10-inning victory.
Maddux, 41, gave up one run and five hits in seven innings. The soft tosser won an intriguing duel against one of the majors’ top up-and-coming power pitchers, 22-year-old Matt Cain (2-9).
“He’s not afraid to pitch from behind,” Cain said of Maddux. “He can throw every pitch. When he first came into the league, he was throwing 90 mph. He had to learn how to pitch later on. He’s amazing.”
Trevor Hoffman finished for his 503rd career save and 21st in 23 chances this season. Barry Bonds was on deck as a pinch hitter when Mark Sweeney grounded out to end the game.
Bonds, who has hit eight of his 749 homers in 127 at-bats against Maddux, got the day off.
