Samardzija pitches San Francisco Giants to 8th straight win, 3-1 vs San Diego Padres

SAN DIEGO -- Bruce Bochy met Jeff Samardzija as the big right-hander came into the dugout after the eighth inning and told him he was done for the night.

Samardzija put up a bit of a fight to finish the game.

"Boch is going to be in the Hall, so I didn't fight too hard," Samardzija said of his manager after the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants beat San Diego 3-1 on Thursday night for their season-high eighth straight victory.

Samardzija was trying to become the third straight Giants pitcher to get a complete game, after Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto went the distance in the first two games of the series. Samardzija threw 105 pitches.

"I'm catching some flak right now from the guys in here," he said. "I was trying to get back out there. When was the last time that's ever happened? I figured we'd get a chance. He met me right as I came in the dugout. He said they'd been riding me pretty hard lately. I said, 'all right.' But it's great to be in that position to be able to fight for that. To even go for three in a row is absurd. I've never heard of that before."

Samardzija (6-2) held San Diego to three hits and one run, struck out eight and walked none. He retired his final 19 batters after giving up an RBI double to Alexi Amarista with two outs in the second.

Santiago Casilla finished the combined four-hitter, pitching the ninth for his 10th save in 13 chances.

Bochy said Samardzija mentioned the chance for a third straight complete game.

"He was good with it. We had the top of the order coming up, a fresh Casilla, he was leading off, and we'd been working him pretty good," Bochy said. "Fortunately it worked out. He was good either way. He was fine with it.'

"I figured it was time to give him a break there. Our pitching, what a great job on this road trip they did. A lot of close games. Our starters just did a terrific job."

Joe Panik had four hits and Brandon Crawford homered for the Giants.

The Giants went 7-0 on a swing through Arizona and San Diego. It was their first undefeated road trip of seven or more games since going 8-0 from June 30-July 7, 1913, according to STATS.

They head home to open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, who at 28-11 have the best record in the majors.

San Francisco swept San Diego for the second time this season. The Padres have lost five of six. They scored only three runs in the series.

Samardzija also beat the Padres 13-9 at San Francisco on April 27.

"He did a good job," Padres manager Andy Green said. "Honestly, I'm at the point where I'm pretty much done tipping my hat to other pitchers. We have to have better at-bats."

Said Wil Myers: "Our offense didn't really do much but that is the way it goes sometimes. You run into guys like that that throw the ball really well. But I think there are situations where we could have better at-bats, me as well."

Crawford homered to right field off James Shields leading off the seventh, his sixth. In the series opener Tuesday night, Crawford had a three-run homer and drove in five runs.

Panik went 4 for 4 against Shields. He was thrown out at third base to end the first and third innings. In the first, he hesitated on Buster Posey's sacrifice fly before breaking for third, and was thrown out by right fielder Matt Kemp. In the third, he tried to advance on a pitch in the dirt and was thrown out by Christian Bethancourt.

The Giants scored an unearned run in the fourth when Matt Duffy reached on a two-base fielding error by Kemp and scored on Hunter Pence's single.

Shields (2-6) allowed three runs, two earned, and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out seven and walked one.