…The Giants might have gotten away with one last night. As it is, thanks to the contributions of youngsters Sean Burroughs and Khalil Greene, the Padres’ opener at their new digs was a success (if a bit more stressful than necessary).

In case you missed it, the Pads beat Barry Bonds and company, 4-3, in 10 innings. David Wells pitched a gem in his San Diego debut, working seven scoreless innings before turning things over to Aki Otsuka.

Otsuka pitched a scoreless eighth, and then Trevor Hoffman came in to protect a 1-0 lead. Everyone was ready for a perfect ending: Hometown kid comes home to get the victory, beloved closer nails down his first save since 2002. Life is good.

But the Giants weren’t hip to that plan and collected two singles on two pitches to start the ninth. With runners at second and third, and one out, pinch hitter A.J. Pierzynski hit a sharp grounder to short. Khalil Greene, playing in, fielded it cleanly and threw a strike to Ramon Hernandez to nail Cody Ransom at home. Two outs. Get Ray Durham, and the game is over.

Durham doubles to the gap in left-center, plating two. Giants lead, 2-1.

Damn.

Just moments earlier it was "Hell’s Bells," screaming, and a serious dose of adrenaline. Now it was the morning after, empty beer cans, deflated balloons. We might as well have been watching Carrot Top in Branson.

Then something miraculous happened. The Padres came back. Greene, who finished with three hits and two walks in five trips to the plate, led off the ninth with a crisp single back through the middle. After Ramon Vazquez sacrificed Greene to second, Burroughs stepped to the plate against the Giants’ nominal closer and former Padre, Matt Herges.

Burroughs took ball one. Took strike one. Took strike two. Down in the count, 1-2, he then fouled off four pitches. Took ball two. Fouled off three more pitches. Took ball three. Finally, on the 13th pitch of the at-bat, Burroughs smacked a single to center, scoring Greene. No further damage ensued, but at least the Pads were still alive. Hope was renewed among the faithful.

To the top of the 10th. Enter Antonio Osuna. Enter Marquis Grissom. Exit baseball via left field. Grissom becomes the answer to a trivia question and the Giants are back on top, 3-2. Eddie Oropesa eventually comes in and puts out the fire.

Bottom of the 10th, Herges is still working for the visitors. Kerry Robinson, who had come in for defensive purposes back in the seventh and made a spectacular diving catch (note to Bruce Bochy: the fact that it worked this time still doesn’t make it a good idea to pull one of your best hitters with a one-run lead; having Ryan Klesko unavailable in extra innings is going to come back to haunt this club at some point), works the count and leads off with a single.

This I take as a sign. If Robinson gets a hit, then surely something good must come of it. As it happens, what comes of it is another Jay Payton strikeout (one of three on the night) and a weak fly to left by Hernandez. Once again, the Pads are down to their last out.

Greene proceeds to draw his second walk of the game (gotta like that), bringing up the pitcher’s spot. Vazquez has already been used, so it has to be Brian Buchanan, right? Would you believe, Miguel Ojeda? Would you believe Ojeda hammers a double to deep left-center to plate Robinson? Of course, the way things are going for the Padres, the ball hops the fence and Greene has to return to third.

Up comes Burroughs. With a little less drama than in his previous at-bat, he laces a single back through the middle to score Greene. Game over.

Although it wasn’t the perfect ending that we had envisioned when Hoffman trotted in from the bullpen earlier, in many ways it was more fitting. The Padres’ perseverance and continued struggle to win was a microcosm of the entire process of building Petco Park. The victory over the Giants, like the building of the park, was more difficult than it probably should have been and it wasn’t always pretty. But the end result was very, very sweet.

Take-Home Memories

• Finding our seat in the very last row of Section 229 out in right field. Bring a jacket if you’re up that way. The wind swirls; it felt like Candlestick.
• Booing Bud Selig, although not as mercilessly as I could have. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t ever want to see him in our house again.
• Payton robbing Bonds of his 660th career home run. As much as I would’ve liked to see him tie Willie Mays, I have to admit I enjoyed watching him think he’d done it only to be denied by Payton.
• Wells pitching the home opener in his hometown. He wasn’t overpowering but he got the job done. And he’s still a lot cheaper than Greg Maddux.
• Burroughs and Greene, Burroughs and Greene, Burroughs and Greene.
• Fans starting the wave in the eighth inning of a 1-0 game. Evidently they’d forgotten how to get to the Q. Get that garbage out of here.
• Screaming for Hoffman when he came in from the ‘pen. Thank goodness his teammates picked him up last night. Lord knows he’s been there for them enough times over the years.
• Hangin’ with my buddies Chet and Mark for the last several innings, trashing what was left of my voice when Burroughs drove in the game winner.

This is an experience I’ll not soon forget. I really hope the opener is a harbinger of good things to come at Petco. Should be a fun summer…