Forsythe errors prove costly in 13th inning

SAN DIEGO -- This wasn't what the Padres had in mind as a proper sendoff to what will be their longest road trip of the season.

The Padres, let down by their defense, squandered a fine pitching performance from their rookie starter and a late lead as the Phillies scored twice in the 13th inning for a 7-5 victory before a crowd of 25,610 at Petco Park.

"That was something out of the norm," Padres manager Bud Black said of the three errors that the team made on Wednesday, leading to three unearned runs. "We place a lot of pride on our defense. But the Phillies took advantage of them."

No more so than in the 13th inning.

Tommy Layne, the eighth pitcher of the game for the Padres, started the 13th inning by plunking Chase Utley with a 2-2 breaking ball. Two batters later, Layne walked Dominic Brown to bring up Ben Revere.

In an eight-pitch at-bat, Revere fouled off four pitches before bouncing a ball between first and second base where second baseman Logan Forsythe closed quickly.

But Forsythe, ranging far to his left, bobbled the ball as Utley rounded third base and then kept running as the ball briefly kicked away from Forsythe. Brown alertly kept on running as well and he also scored when Forsythe's throw home sailed wide as the Phillies took a two-run lead.

"I rushed myself, I didn't make the play ... I don't know what happened with the throw," said Forsythe, who was charged with two errors on the play.

Lost in the wild finish Wednesday was the pitching of Padres left-hander Robbie Erlin, who was officially added to the roster earlier in the day to take the spot of injured starter Clayton Richard.

Erlin struck out a career-high seven batters in his 6 1/3-inning stint in which he allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with one walk.

Erlin struggled early in the game, as he allowed runs in each of the first two innings. Michael Young had an RBI double in the first inning and Carlos Ruiz added a sacrifice fly in the second inning.

"He got some balls up early in the game, but settled down," Black said. "It was a matter of dialing in his fastball. That's a good, experienced lineup over there. He did a great job. I'm very proud of Robbie. He pitched with the fastball, both sides of the plate."

But Erlin, known more for his command than overpowering stuff, settled down thereafter. In fact, Erlin retired 10 consecutive hitters at one point with five strikeouts in the bunch. He finished with seven strikeouts, a career-high.

"I thought fastball command was key," Erlin said. "I didn't have a great feel for the off-speed [pitches] early in the game and I just kind of worked through it and found it there in the third and fourth."

Staked to an early 2-0 lead, Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels looked on his way to avoiding what would have been his 12th loss of the season.

But Hamels allowed two runs in bottom of the third inning, the first on an RBI double by Forsythe and then another run when Chris Denorfia singled to right field. That ball was misplayed as the tying run scored as the ball kicked away from Delmon Young.

The Padres took a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning when Forsythe hit a ground-rule double to center field and scored when Denorfia connected for his sixth home run of the season. The Padres added another run in the sixth inning off Hamels, as Kyle Blanks had an RBI double.

All told, Hamels allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out five in a no-decision.

Erlin got one out in the seventh inning before leaving. Reliever Nick Vincent allowed a single and then, with two outs, got pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen to send a fly ball into foul territory, down the right-field line. Blanks ran in and had the ball pop out of his glove to extend the inning for an error.

The three errors are the most this season since the team had three in a game against Colorado on June 8.

Given a second chance, Frandsen responded with a single to right field to drive in a run, cutting the Padres lead to 5-3. This became especially important when, one inning later, Delmon Young hit a towering, two-run home run off Luke Gregerson to tie the score.

Young was asked if his eyes lit up when he got a slider up in the strike zone from Gregerson.

"It didn't light up because I missed the first two by about five feet," he said. "That was actually a strike. The other ones were balls."

The Padres leave Thursday to start a 10-game road trip beginning Friday that will take them to Miami, Boston and Washington.