Hairston, Greene homer as Padres spoil Reynolds' MLB debut

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Padres suddenly look like a whole different team.

Before fans get too giddy, though, they need to remember that the local nine are still stuck in the basement of the big leagues.

Scott Hairston and Khalil Greene homered to spoil Greg Reynolds' major league debut, leading the Padres to a 6-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday and their first series win in nearly a month.

The Padres have been playing so poorly that their two straight wins match their season high, which they've managed only three times.

"It was good to see," manager Bud Black said. "We think it's in there. The players do. The staff does, so it's good to see it showing. Hopefully we can continue it. It was more like we expect to play baseball. Good pitching, good bullpen work, solid defense, a couple homers."

After winning for just the sixth time in 24 games, the Padres (14-24) continue to have the worst record in the majors. They head back out on the road, starting with four games at NL Central-leading Chicago.

"The last two games are what we expect," Black said. "We've got to do more of that, obviously, to climb out of this hole and get back to where we think we should be. But it's good."

San Diego had lost eight consecutive series before taking two of three from the defending NL champion Rockies. The Padres hadn't won a series since winning two of three on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 11-13.

"This is something to build off of, I guess," Greene said. "It gives you a different feeling. More than anything, whether you're winning or losing, I think it's just playing well and having guys play good defense and pitch well and swing the bats. And if you can do that more often than not you're probably going to be successful more often than not."

Reynolds (0-1) and Chris Young (3-3) had been locked in a scoreless duel until Hairston hit Reynolds' first pitch of the sixth inning just a few feet inside the foul pole on the side of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left-field corner at Petco Park. It was Hairston's fifth.

Greene's two-run shot into the seats in left-center made it 4-0 with two outs in the sixth. It was just the second homer for Greene, who came into the game hitting .207. Adrian Gonzalez was aboard on an RBI double.

Reynolds was the second pick overall in the 2006 draft. The Rockies purchased his contract before the game, but he'd known since earlier in the week that he was coming up. Reynolds was removed after two innings of his start for Colorado Springs on Wednesday and his teammates congratulated him on his impending callup.

Reynolds is from Pacifica, just south of San Francisco. He left about 25 tickets for family members, and said he heard friends calling out to him from the stands when he was warming up.

"The first two innings I stayed on top of the ball well and kept the ball down," he said. "The last couple of innings, I got a little bit lackadaisical mentally and left some balls up. The one to Greene is definitely an example of that."

He allowed four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, struck out one and walked two.

"It was pretty much the way I had imagined it," Reynolds said of his debut.

"I think he just got some balls in some bad locations," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I thought it was a pretty good first effort. I thought he handled it very professional. I saw some good things."

Young started strong, allowing just three singles and one walk through six innings, and striking out five straight batters at one point.

He hit the wall in the seventh, though. He loaded the bases with no outs, allowing singles to Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe, and walking Ryan Spilborghs. Sidearmer Cla Meredith came on and got Chris Iannetta to hit into a double play that brought in Atkins, then struck out Clint Barmes to end the inning.

Young allowed one run and five hits in six innings, struck out seven and walked two.

San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a two-out, bases-loaded RBI single in the seventh. Tadahito Iguchi doubled with two outs in the eighth to bring in rookie Luke Carlin, aboard on his first big league hit, a double into the right-field corner.

Game notes
Carlin started the day game after catching Saturday night's game because Josh Bard got an injection in his surgically repaired right wrist. Black said Bard is expected back Monday night in Chicago. ... The Rockies made room for Reynolds by optioning Mark Redman to the Sky Sox. Redman lost his starting job after allowing 19 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings of his last three starts, including five runs in 2 2/3 innings in a 6-5 loss to St. Louis on Tuesday night. He was 2-3 with a 7.84. ... RHP Bryan Corey made his Padres debut, pitching the ninth after he was obtained earlier in the day from the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named or cash. To make room, the Padres optioned LHP Joe Thatcher to Triple-A Portland.