Two in a row! I know it’s been a while, in fact since June 5th-6th since the Friars last won back to back ball game’s but they pulled it off tonight with their 7-2 conquest over the Diamondbacks. With the win the series victory is in the books as well, with a sweep on the mind for tomorrow.
More good news from the victory tonight was the reemergence of Andrew Cashner. Rising like the mythical Phoenix from the ashes of a rough stretch of 5 starts in which he allowed 29 runs to cross in 26 innings of work, he threw the ball tonight with conviction and command. As has been the norm for him this season there was a defensive error behind him in the first inning. In past games those miscues have seemed to snowball into run producing innings that became insurmountable for the team to overcome. Tonight he pitched over it inducing a pop up followed by an inning ending double play to make the earlier bobble benign. The hard takeout slide into Cory Spangenbrg on the play, however, was not as we’ll discuss later.
After Cash manned up and overcame the early challenge, the offense responded in kind. Kemp leading off ripped the first pitch he saw down the left field line for a lead off double and the tone for the evening was set. Solarte executed his mission perfectly with a ground ball to the right side to get Kemp to third. Alonso then singled into right on the first offering he saw to put the Friars on top 1-0. Upton followed with another single pushing Yonder to third, who would then score on Norris’s ground out to post a 2-0 Pads lead.
Cash wobbled a little in the 2nd allowing three singles to load the bases, but again bowed his neck to retire the last two batters and prevent any runs from scoring. In the 3rd, though, after he retired the first two batters, he allowed a 2-out, 2-strike double to Goldschmidt (that dude can hit!). Peralta then doubled, also on an elevated 2-strike offering to drive in Goldschmidt, and Tomas then immediately doubled Peralta in on the very next hanging slider to erase the Padres lead completely with a 2-2 tie.
After that Cash gathered himself and posted zeros in the 4th and 5th. The offense then provided a little two out thunder of its own. Alonso once again put himself in the mix of a Padres run scoring inning when he kept the 5th alive with a 2-out double to left. That allowed Upton to come to the plate and drive a 3-2 fastball away over the right field wall for his 14th homer of the season to put the Friars up 4-2. They would never look back.
The 6th inning produced three more runs as the fellas smacked five singles including RBI hits for Cashner himself on a perfectly executed bunt, Kemp, and Solarte. When the dust settled it was 7-2 Padres.
Cash took care of business in the 6th and 7th, then handed it the ‘pen to get the final six outs which Mateo and Quackenbush did without a hitch. High fives on the field, and the postgame music able to blare in the clubhouse after the victory – it was all good!
Every Padres position player except Norris and Spangenberg ended up with multiple hits on the evening, and six different Pads had an RBI, with Upton claiming two. I mentioned earlier that Cory had been taken out pretty hard on the double play that ended the first, but he appeared to be all right and even hit a double in his plate appearance in the 4th. However, he seemed to be running in pain on the extra base hit, and when he advanced to third on a wild pitch he again looked hobbled and was taken out of the game at that point for pinch runner. Later it was announced that he had left the game due to a sore left knee and that an MRI would be taken after the game…yes, hold your breath and say a prayer that it is not something serious.
Tomorrow Despaigne will look to make it three in a row for the Pads and a sweep of the series. The first pitch will be fired at 1:10, and Uncle Teddy and I will look forward to having you with us for the call on the Mighty 1090.
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