Carlos Beltran, Cody Ross and Pablo Sandoval homered in a rare show of power at AT&T Park, and the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 8-3 on Monday night.
Ross also singled, doubled and scored three times to back a solid outing by rookie left-hander Eric Surkamp.
The setting was a lot different than a year ago at this time when these teams battled for the NL West title in a race that went down to the final day of the regular season.
The Giants still harbor slim postseason hopes this year - they began the night 8 1/2 games behind division-leading Arizona - while the Padres are just finishing out the string.