Adrian Gonzalez hit one of his team's three home runs and Clayton Richard remained unbeaten at AT&T Park this season as the San Diego Padres kept their division title hopes alive Friday with a 6-4 triumph over the San Francisco Giants.

Ryan Ludwick and Matt Stairs also went deep for the Padres, who climbed within two games of the NL West-leading Giants with two contests remaining. San Diego also got within one of Atlanta for the wild card.

Ludwick began San Diego's power surge, opening the scoring with a leadoff blast off Matt Cain in the second inning. Gonzalez gave the Padres a 4-0 bulge with a three-run shot in the third, his 31st of the season.

Stairs started the fourth by depositing a 3-2 pitch over the right-field wall, giving the Padres more than four runs for the first time in 10 games. Cain yielded back-to-back singles to open the fifth and was replaced by Dan Runzler, who uncorked a wild pitch that allowed David Eckstein to score for a 6-0 cushion.

Richard (14-9) improved to 4-1 against the Giants this year and 3-0 at AT&T Park, allowing three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander, who also singled and scored a run, went 3-0 in four head-to-head matchups with Cain.

Four relievers bridged the gap to Heath Bell, who recorded the final four outs for his 46th save in 49 chances.