Padres knock off Giants again

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Heath Bell stopped a Giants rally in the ninth inning and the San Diego Padres beat San Francisco 4-2 Saturday, leaving two NL playoff races in doubt heading into the final day of the season.

Pablo Sandoval hit an RBI single with one out in the ninth, but Bell got pinch-hitter Jose Guillen to ground into a game-ending double play with runners at the corners.

Tim Stauffer gave San Diego another clutch start, and the Padres pulled within one game of the Giants in the NL West. The Padres tied Atlanta for the wild-card spot when the Braves lost to Philadelphia 7-0.

Stauffer (6-5) allowed three hits in 6.1 innings. He improved 3-1 against the Giants this season, again delivering in a starting role after spending most of the season in the bullpen.

Bell took over in the ninth, and Pat Burrell doubled and took third on Juan Uribe's double. Sandoval's single cut the Giants' deficit to two runs.

Guillen grounded to shortstop Miguel Tejada, who turned the double play. Tejada pumped his fist at pinch-runner Darren Ford after throwing to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to end it.

Bell held on for his 47th save in 50 chances. He is tied for the major league lead with Giants closer Brian Wilson.

Giants starter Barry Zito (9-14) gave up consecutive bases-loaded walks in the first and was booed off the field when done after a season-low three innings.

San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy also made an early exit - he was ejected after the sixth for arguing when Buster Posey was called out on strikes.

The Padres came into this weekend series needing a three-game sweep to have any chance of winning the NL West - without a sweep, they needed help from Atlanta losses to reach the playoffs. San Diego has won two in a row in a hostile environment where Saturday's sellout crowd of 42,653 waved orange rally towels.

San Diego is 7-1 this year at AT&T Park.

Ace Mat Latos (14-9) goes Sunday for San Diego against Jonathan Sanchez (12-9), who is 2-5 lifetime versus the Padres but also threw a no-hitter against them last year. In August, Sanchez guaranteed a three-game sweep of the Padres but San Francisco dropped two of three.

Latos made critical comments last week about the Giants' new-look roster featuring castoffs such as Burrell, Guillen and Cody Ross. He said San Diego kept its original team intact.

The Padres won the first eight meetings between the rivals to start the season, then the Giants took three of four in San Diego from Sept. 9-12.