Medica came close, but fell a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
There are always ebbs and flows over the course of a baseball season. Games are won that no one would have counted on, and others lost that seemingly should have been money in the bank. The Pads have been in the midst of a scheduling run that would appear to be a chance to gain some ground, but it hasn’t been going that way. The streak of sub .500 opponents has included the Twins, Cubs, and Diamondbacks so far, with the White Sox, Pirates, Nationals, Phillies, and Mets next in line. So far they’re 3-6 to start this stretch after dropping 2 of 3 to Arizona. Here’s how that series unfolded:
- GAME #1 – Ross vs. McCarthy. With Tyson Ross on the mound you always like your chances. When your offense scores 5 runs in the ball game you like your chances even more. That method of deduction didn’t work out however, as Ross allowed 2 runs to cross early with the help of some less than sharp Padres defense. The Friar offense put up 4 runs in the 5th thanks to HR’s by Alonso and Cabrera to take the 4-2 lead, but Ross couldn’t hold it allowing some soft contact singles to start the 6th, then a couple of harder hit balls that plated 3 to give AZ the edge 5-4. A pinch hit 2B by Medica followed by a Cabrera 2B tied the game 5-5. The snakes eventually won it in walk off fashion in the 9th on a HR off Quackenbush saddling him with his first MLB loss. 1-0 D’Backs.
- GAME #2 – Stults vs. Miley. Following the same script as the night before, AZ scored first taking a 1-0 lead after 2, but the Pads answered immediately putting together a 5-hit attack and scoring 3 in the 3rd. The 3-1 lead was safe until the 6th when Stults allowed a run to trim the lead to 3-2. The lead off man for AZ would then reach to start the 7th thanks to a ball lost in the lights by Denorfia, and eventually scored to knot it at 3. The Friars got the big hit they needed in the 8th from Medica, who tagged a solo HR to hand a 4-3 lead over to Street who stayed perfect in holding leads notching his 15th save of the season, and tying the series 1-1.
- GAME #3 – Stauffer vs. Anderson. Facing a rookie making only his 3rd MLB start, and not seeming to have anything electric to shut you down with, it seemed the game plan would be to simply not fall apart early and stay within reach until the offense could get to the rookie. Unfortunately, Stauff simply didn’t have it, and couldn’t make it out of the first. 8 runs ended up crossing in that first inning disaster, and it was 10-0 before the Pads finally got on the board with 1 in the fourth. The Friars showed signs of life in the 5th as well scoring 3 more with a chance to really get back in the game with 1 more big hit, but they couldn’t get it, and despite scoring 2 more in the 8th the rest of the game was academic. There was a moment of potential historic consequence as Medica came to the plate in the 9th having a HR, 3B, and 2B already logged on the scorecard, but the 1B to complete the organization’s first cycle proved elusive, flying out to center field instead. 12-6 was the final score and the series went to the D’Backs 2-1.
No happy flight to Chicago, and not the start to the road trip the Pads were looking for. They are now 10.5 games behind the Giants in the N.L. West, and needing some wins in a hurry to stay relevant. Next up are the White Sox, and the match up are elected to be as follows:
- Game #1 (5:10 PDT) – Ross vs. Danks
- Game #2 (11:10 a.m. PDT) – Kennedy vs. Rienzo
- Game #3 (11:10 a.m. PDT) – Stults vs. Quintana
The next 15 games are all against teams currently playing under .500 baseball – still time for the Pads to climb back into the N.L. West hunt.
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