K.C. ALFRED / Union-Tribune Jody Gerut hits a three-run homer with one out in the eighth inning off Charlie Manning to beat the Nationals.

Jody Gerut admitted it was a moment of dejection. Kevin Kouzmanoff led off the eighth inning of a tie game yesterday with a drive to left field at Petco Park that cleared the wall near the 357-foot sign. Sadly for the Padres, Washington left fielder Ryan Langerhans also cleared the wall – and made a leaping catch of Kouzmanoff's shot before it could land in the seats.

• Today's matchup: Padres at Giants
• Peavy leads Young – by more than a nose – in race to return
• Padres review
• Padres box score

Khalil Greene completed a 10K last weekend, but don't bother asking about his time. The Padres shortstop did not run 10,000 meters, but succeeded in striking out 10 times during a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. That's 10 “K's” in scorebook notation, 10 tiresome trips back to the dugout without benefit of a ball in play.

LOS ANGELES – With a chance to knock out the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, Lakers coach Phil Jackson knew the message he wanted to send his team.

Getting to Lake Ramona requires a dusty, two-mile hike along a flat path through the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve and then a climb along an earthen dam. That's where the reservoir is, where you can finally wet a line.

• Long Beach Regional

SAN FRANCISCO – The trial of track coach Trevor Graham netted steroids prosecutors another guilty verdict and a public admission of cheating from a gold-medal winning athlete. The jury convicted Graham yesterday of one count of lying to federal investigators about his relationship to an admitted steroids dealer but deadlocked on the other two charges, when at least one juror had serious doubts about the credibility of the prosecution's star witness.