Forsythe's first homer wins it for Padres

SAN DIEGO -- Bud Black wasn't a full minute into his postgame scrum with reporters Tuesday when he essentially found himself gushing over a prodigious home run that left a lasting impression on himself as well as the crowd at Petco Park.

"That ball was crushed," said Black, the Padres' manager. "It had a great sound, the right trajectory. He has stepped in and has given us a lift."

Black could have easily been talking about Carlos Quentin, who hit two home runs, though he was describing the walk-off home run that another relative newcomer to the team's lineup -- Logan Forsythe -- drilled to give the Padres a 6-5 victory over the Giants.

Forsythe jumped on the second pitch he saw from Giants reliever Steve Edlefsen, sending it to the upper deck in left field for his first Major League home run as the Padres began their three-game series with the Giants with more than a bang.

Try a resounding thud, like the sound of Quentin's bat meeting just about everything placed in its path.

Quentin, playing in his sixth game after missing the first 49 after March knee surgery, connected on home runs in the second and eighth innings. The last one, measured at 418 feet, tied the score. It was also a line drive off a pitch down in the strike zone, a ball that landed beyond the center-field fence.

Quentin, who also had a double, is hitting .522 with five home runs, nine RBIs and nine extra-base hits in his first 23 at-bats with the team. The two home runs Tuesday were his first at Petco Park, as Quentin made his debut at Wrigley Field last week.

"Carlos Quentin is one of the best hitters in baseball. Pitching against him for so many years, he's a guy in the lineup who provides a dynamic that has to be respected," said Padres closer Huston Street, who came off the disabled list and earned the victory by pitching a scoreless ninth.

"He changes the game. He's changed so many games for us ... and he's only been back for 10 days."

As for Forsythe, he's played in all of two games since coming off the disabled list Sunday. Like Quentin, he had surgery in Spring Training, this to remove the sesamoid bone in his left foot. He spent most of four months in Arizona, at extended spring training then with Triple-A Tucson.

"That was frustrating, but you don't expect anything in this game," he said. "I had a lot of people help me [get healthy]. I'm just trying to stay consistent."

Consistency was certainly hard to come by for Tuesday's starting pitchers.

It was a tale of two starts for Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum, who entered the game with a 2-6 record and a 5.82 ERA. Worse yet, he hadn't won a game since defeating the Padres on April 28.

The way this game started, it didn't look like Lincecum would last long.

After working a scoreless first inning, Lincecum allowed four runs on four hits and one walk while facing eight batters in the second inning.

Quentin started the four-run inning with his first home run of the game. Chase Headley followed with a double. Two batters later, Lincecum walked Forsythe. Everth Cabrera then was able to roll a single up the middle for a 2-0 lead.

San Diego pitcher Anthony Bass reached base on the fielder's choice, setting up a broken-bat, two-run double into the left-field corner by Cameron Maybin, even as the barrel of his bat eventually landed on the infield dirt near third base.

But for as much as Lincecum looked to be on the ropes -- as much as anyone could be after two innings -- he righted himself thereafter. In a big way, too.

Starting with the third inning, Lincecum retired 10 consecutive hitters and 11 of the next 13 with eight strikeouts more than sprinkled in.

"I saw better secondary pitches down below the zone. From that point on [after the second inning], he had better command of the fastball and he kept his breaking ball down," Black said.

Bass' night went a little differently than Lincecum's did. Staked to a 4-0 lead, Bass allowed one run in the third inning but got through five innings having allowed three hits with four strikeouts. But much like the way Lincecum ran into trouble in the second inning, Bass' start unraveled in the sixth inning.

The Giants scored three runs in the inning to tie the score before taking a 5-4 lead in the seventh. That's when Quentin struck again with his second home run, this one off Jeremy Affeldt.

"They have their cleanup hitter back. I'm sure they missed him. He's going to make them a better club," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy.