Peavy Ks 10 Giants En Route To 18th Win

Sunday, September 16th 2007, 7:09 pm

By: News On 6

SAN DIEGO (AP) _ Jake Peavy is putting together an impressive Cy Young resume. Peavy lowered his major league-leading ERA to 2.39, struck out 10 to take over the big league lead and pitched the San Diego Padres to a 5-1 win over the last-place San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

Kevin Kouzmanoff had three hits and an RBI for the Padres, who maintained their 1 1/2-game lead in the NL wild-card race. They went into the day trailing first-place Arizona by two games in the NL West. San Diego swept the Giants, winning its eighth straight against San Francisco.

Peavy's 18 wins are the most in the NL and a personal best. He allowed four hits in 7 1-3 innings and won for the ninth time in 10 decisions. His only loss in that span was at Arizona on Sept. 5 when he was pitching on three days' rest.

Throwing his usual assortment of fastballs and sliders, Peavy (18-6) struck out at least 10 for the ninth time this season _ again, a big league high _ and the 24th time in his career. His 225 strikeouts are a personal best, topping the 216 he had in 2005, when he led the NL.

Peavy took a three-hit shutout into the eighth, when he walked his only batter, pinch-hitter Eugenio Velez, with one out. Velez stole second and scored on pinch-hitter Ray Durham's single to left. Padres manager Bud Black came out to get Peavy, who got a standing ovation from the crowd of 34,000. The 26-year-old right-hander responded by tipping his cap.

Heath Bell came on and got Dave Roberts to hit into a double play.

San Francisco's Tim Lincecum (7-5) remained winless in five starts. He allowed four runs, three earned, and six hits in 6 1-3 innings with five strikeouts and five walks.

Josh Bard homered off rookie Dan Giese leading off the eighth, his fourth. Kouzmanoff hit an RBI double in the seventh and scored on Adrian Gonzalez's double.

Brady Clark hit an RBI triple in the sixth.

San Diego scored an unearned run in the second on two walks, a two-base throwing error by catcher Guillermo Rodriguez and Bard's RBI fielder's choice.

Notes: Peavy came in with a 2.44 ERA. He has four more strikeouts than Baltimore's Erik Bedard. ... The Padres are 12-3 against the Giants this season, with three more games to be played Sept. 24-26 at San Francisco. ... Padres fans might have booed Barry Bonds for the final time. Bonds didn't play in Sunday's series finale because of a toe injury sustained the night before. If Bonds plays next year, it could be as a designated hitter for an American League team rather than with the Giants. ... Bonds has 87 homers against the Padres, his most against any team, and 43 in San Diego, his most in any road city. He hit his 755th homer at Petco Park on Aug. 4 to tie Hank Aaron's record, then became the home run king three nights later. He's holding at 762. ... Bonds is expected to be out five to seven days with an injured right big toe, manager Bruce Bochy said. ... Padres CF Mike Cameron sat out after tweaking his left knee in Saturday night's 6-0 win, when he hit a two-run homer. ... Black said LF Milton Bradley isn't expected to play in the next few days. He's been out since straining his right oblique on Sept. 7 at Colorado. ``I think he's gaining on it,'' Black said.