Young arms face off in Giants-Padres finale

San Francisco Bay Area native Joey Lucchesi hopes to give family and friends a better showing than in his previous homecoming when the visiting San Diego Padres go for a series split against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.

Evan Longoria crushed a two-run double in the seventh inning and scored what turned into the decisive run on a Pablo Sandoval sacrifice fly as the Giants rallied to take the series opener 6-5 on Tuesday night.

The hosts will attempt to treat Lucchesi as rudely as when he made his San Francisco debut on April 9, a game the Giants won 7-2.

The 26-year-old native of the Oakland suburb of Newark was roughed up for seven runs and seven hits in four innings during the loss, which came 12 days after he blanked the Giants on three hits over 5 1/3 innings in his season debut for the Padres at home.

The left-hander has faced the Giants four times in his career, but just once in San Francisco. He is 2-1 with a 4.87 ERA in those starts.

Lucchesi has tackled the other San Francisco Bay Area team -- the Oakland Athletics -- just once in his career, and that game also was in San Diego.

The outfield that will back Lucchesi's encore performance in San Francisco remains a bit of an uncertainty after manager Andy Green's juggling Tuesday night backfired.

Green elected to stick with hot-hitting Wil Myers in left field late with a 4-3 lead, and the Giants took advantage when Longoria's go-ahead liner barely eluded the lumbering slugger's grasp.

Then when Myers made a weak throw to his cutoff man, the Giants sent Joe Panik all the way around from first, and he was able to beat shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr.'s throw to the plate.

Before the game, Green disclosed he was moving his best defensive left fielder, Hunter Renfroe, to right field because of the odd dimensions of Oracle Park. That gave Myers the start in center, from where he was shifted to left just prior to the Giants' rally.

"(Myers) has swung the bat well here," Green told reporters when addressing the status of Manuel Margot, who did not start. "(San Francisco's Oracle Park Colorado's and Coors Field, where the Padres go next) are two challenging parks from an outfield perspective. If we end going to Manny at some point on this road trip, it will be for the defense."

Margot entered Tuesday's game for defensive purposes, but he was placed in center field as Myers moved to left. Josh Naylor, who started the game in left field, was the guy who was removed.

The Giants will go for a sweep with rookie right-hander Shaun Anderson (1-1, 4.18 ERA), who will be making his sixth big-league start. He has never faced the Padres.

Anderson's last two outings were on the road, and he recorded his first major league win on June 1 at Baltimore. He left a 3-3 game after six innings, getting a no-decision, in his last start Thursday in New York against the Mets.

Anderson is expected to get an opportunity to pitch to catcher Buster Posey, who likely will be reinstated from the injured list after missing 10 days with a strained right hamstring.

"This guy means a lot," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Posey before Tuesday's series opener. "Just having his presence there, he extends your lineup. He's your guy. Every team has a guy in your lineup that if he's gone, he's going to be the one they're going to miss more than anybody. I think that's fair to say that would be Buster for us."

Steven Vogt started in Posey's place Tuesday and contributed a single and a walk to the win, which was just the Giants' third in eight head-to-head meetings with the Padres this season.

--Field Level Media