San Francisco – Missing two injured outfielders, the San Diego Padres lost their fourth straight game Monday night – and sole possession of the wild-card lead.
Omar Vizquel drove in a season-high four runs to help Barry Zito end a six-start winless stretch, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Padres 9-4 on Monday night.
San Diego fell into a tie with Philadelphia atop the NL wild-card standings, with the Rockies a game back. The Padres are three behind NL West leader Arizona, which has a magic number of four to clinch the division crown.
Zito singled in a run on the way to his first career win in seven outings against the Padres, trying to make the playoffs for a third straight year after winning the NL West the past two seasons.
Earlier in the day, the Padres learned they will be without left fielder Milton Bradley for the rest of the season because of a knee injury that will require surgery, and center fielder Mike Cameron for at least the remainder of the regular season with a partially torn ligament in his right thumb.
The outfield play without those two was far from crisp, and the Padres lost on the heels of a three-game sweep by the Rockies.
When Vizquel drove in a run on a bunt single in the seventh, it marked the first run scored by the Giants against Cla Meredith. The right-handed reliever had gone 17 1/3 scoreless innings against them in 16 outings.
