Rays/MLB

Padres make quick work of A's

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 29, 2006

PADRES 8 ATHLETICS 1

SAN DIEGO - Mike Cameron hit a leadoff homer, his fourth homer in five games, and Mike Piazza also connected to lead the Padres.

San Diego beat the AL West leaders for the second straight night to take a 1½-game lead in the NL West.

Clay Hensley won for the first time in five starts.

Adrian Gonzalez went 4-for-4 for San Diego, all singles, to tie his career high for hits and scored twice. Khalil Greene drove in three, two on a seventh-inning double.

On a 1-and-1 pitch from Joe Blanton, Cameron homered into the second-floor balcony of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse just beyond the leftfield corner.

Piazza drove a 2-and-2 pitch from Ron Flores an estimated 423 feet into the second deck in left with one out in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. It was his 11th.

Jay Payton, who played for the Padres in 2004, singled home Eric Chavez in the fourth for Oakland's run.

Notable: Oakland rookie Doug Clark, pinch-hitting for Blanton in the fifth, got his first career hit, a single to center.

[Last modified June 29, 2006, 06:46:32]