Giles Closes Door on Nen, Giants, 6-5

Three times Robb Nen was within a strike of his 300th save, three times he didn’t get it. And the San Francisco Giants got a loss that could haunt them later if they don’t make the postseason.

Brian Giles’s two-run double won it in the ninth inning after San Francisco closer Robb Nen was within one strike of ending the game three times, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied past the Giants, 6-5, Friday night at Pittsburgh.

The Giants lost their eighth in 11 games and missed a chance to tie the Dodgers for the NL wild-card lead

“This is tough, real tough,” Manager Dusty Baker said. “Any time you lose them late ...”

Nen, brought in to preserve a 5-4 lead, quickly retired Pokey Reese and pinch-hitter Armando Rios, then ran the count to 0-2 on both Jason Kendall and Jack Wilson, only to have both single into left field.

“Any time you have him [Wilson] 0-2, and he gets a hit, it’s not good,” Nen said. “It was a slider that just got too much of the plate. It wasn’t where I wanted it, and I didn’t want to face Giles in that situation.”

For good reason: Giles is four for five with two homers and five runs batted in against him.

Giles also fell behind in the count 1-2, tomahawked a foul ball on a pitch he nearly missed, then hit a drive into the left-center gap that center fielder Kenny Lofton couldn’t catch as both runners scored.

“I got to first and I thought he caught it,” Giles said. “It sliced just enough because he can run down anything out there.”

San Diego 5, Cincinnati 2--Brian Lawrence tied his career high with 10 strikeouts and didn’t allow an earned run in eight innings as the Padres won at San Diego.

Phil Nevin went three for four with a run-scoring single and Deivi Cruz had two hits and an RBI for the Padres.

Lawrence (10-6) gave up two unearned runs before being replaced by Trevor Hoffman to start the ninth.

Hoffman, who blew a ninth-inning lead in an 8-7 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, earned his 341st career save, tying Rollie Fingers for sixth place all-time.

Atlanta 11, St. Louis 5--Wes Helms hit his first career grand slam, and Chipper Jones had a three-run homer as the Braves won the matchup of division leaders at Atlanta.

Tom Glavine (14-6) gave up one run and six hits in five innings, coming back after a rain delay of 55 minutes in the third inning.

St. Louis starter Jason Simontacchi (7-3) gave up nine runs in one-plus inning.

Milwaukee 1, Florida 0--Jamey Wright pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, and Ronnie Belliard hit an RBI single at Miami as the Brewers ended a three-game losing streak.

Montreal 3, Houston 1--Britt Reames and two relievers combined on a four-hitter and Brad Wilkerson hit an RBI triple and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning to lead the Expos at Montreal.

Chicago 6, Colorado 4--Moises Alou hit a game-ending, two-run homer in the 12th inning off Victor Santos (0-1) as the Cubs beat the Rockies despite blowing a ninth-inning lead.

Arizona at New York, ppd.--The game between the Diamondbacks and Mets was rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader today.