With the Padres struggling to score runs, and coming off a long road trip the thought of playing at home against the team with the worst ERA in MLB seemed mighty inviting. Get some good home cooking to eat, and hopefully some home run pitches to feast on as well. The home cooking part hopefully worked out for the boys, but the smorgasbord of meaty pitches did not for much of the first couple of games. Here’s how it all played out:
Maybin scoring the winning run, walk off style in the finale.
- GAME #1 – Cashner against Arroyo – power vs. finesse. Classic match up, but certainly no guarantee of scoring runs as Arroyo, when on, can be tough and Friday night he was. It should not have been a surprise either as all the reports I had from scouts in the press box were that he struggled early because of missing time in spring with a sore back, then had a flu virus. His last outing though he was healthy and showed the usual Arroyo stuff, and indeed that’s how he pitched the Friars. Lots of soft stuff with sliders, and curveballs, then zip a fastball in there to change the eye calibration – vintage veteran. He kept the Pads offense that was already struggling in their collective funk for 7 shutout innings. Meanwhile Cashner was firing heaters up to 98 MPH, showing that on any given night if he feels he needs to rear back and fire it he can, and kept the snakes off the board except for a 2-out single that scored 2 in the 3rd that proved to be the difference in the ball game. It was a fine effort by Cash once again, that went essentially wasted as the Pads never got to the D’Back pitching and dropped the game 2-0. 1-0 Diamondbacks.
- GAME #2 – Kennedy had been outstanding on the road trip putting together back to back gutsy outings, and showing his best stuff ever as a Padre in his last start. In this game he wasn’t quite as sharp as his last time out, allowing 2 runs to be plated in the 2nd, and another in the 5th for 3 total over 5 innings of work. Given how the Padres offense had been lately those three runs seemed insurmountable. The snakes added another for good measure in the 7th to make it 4-0. The Pads bats remained ice cold through 8 innings versus McCarthy, and the AZ ‘pen, making it 17 innings since they last scored a run, then finally woke up in the 9th. Smith singles, Grandal doubled him in, then Gyorko hit a 2-run bomb to left field to get the Pads within 1. Maybin then doubled to put the tying run in scoring position, but they couldn’t finish the comeback, falling short 4-3. The good news was the bats although falling short finally showed a heartbeat, and Gyorko in particular had some good at bats hitting balls hard to the right side before finally going deep. A small silver lining but a this point you look to hang your hat on anything positive you can. The hope was that some of that momentum would carry into game 3, with AZ already guaranteeing themselves a series win leading 2-0.
- GAME #3 – The pressure was now on Ross’ shoulders to stop the skid, prevent the sweep, and keep the D’Backs in check for as long as he could until the offense could somehow get some runs hopefully with some mojo left over from the previous night’s late rally. Buddy mixed things up in the lineup putting Denorfia in the lead off spot for the first time, and it paid off in the 3rd when for the first time in 4 games the Pads scored first thanks to a Deno RBI 1B. The lead was short lived however, as AZ scored 3 the next inning on a HR, and a crushing 2-out, 2-run single by the #8 hitter, after an error and passed ball set the table. It was gut wrenching in that the Pads essentially handed them the runs, and the lead. The team’s tenacity revealed itself though by answering immediately with a 2-run 2B y Rivera to tie the game at 3 a piece, and that’s the way it remained into the 9th. Ross buckled down going 7, Benoit posted a zero, and Street fought some tough at bats and deep counts to put up a scoreless 9th. Then in the 9th Maybin got things gong with an infield single that was reversed upon a Buddy challenge (his second successful challenge of the day), and reached 3rd on Rivera’s second double of the afternoon. WIth the infield pulled in Alonso hit a slow roller to the first baseman, Goldschmidt, who fired home, but with a great jump as the ball was entering the hitting zone, and raw speed Maybin beat the play at the plate, and the Pads took the final game in dramatic fashion 4-3 to avoid the sweep. It was a much needed win in the standings to stay in the hunt, and even more needed for the Padres psyche especially the hitters many of whom have been fighting the confidence battle for much of the season.
It was a disappointing first two games to say the least, especially with the expectations so high that the thus far inconsistent D’Backs rotation would be the panacea for the listless offense. Although the first 17 innings of not scoring a single run was demoralizing as it was unfolding, by finally exorcising the curse in the 9th inning of game #2, and putting runs on the board in three different innings of game 3 including the walk off in the 9th to win it, hopefully the listing ship is getting back on its keel. Along with the runs there were also some much better at bats, hit or not, that usually signal a turnaround is imminent. Add to that Quentin and Headley playing rehab games, and hopefully close to being back on the big league field soon, this team is not far from having weathered a pretty severe offensive storm…but it’s not time to pull in the storm sails yet.
The Royals come in to town for the next three days with the 3rd best team ERA in the A.L. The good news is they are in the midst of a four game slide, and having dropped 9 of their last 14. The pitching match ups for the series are as follows:
- Game #1 (7:10 p.m.) – Stults vs. Ventura
- Game #2 (7:10 p.m.) – Erlin vs. Guthrie
- Game #3 (12:40 p.m.) – Cashner vs. Shields
That last match up could be a really fun battle of the Titans between each team’s Ace. Hope you’ll join Ted “Teddy Ballgame” Leitner, and myself for all the action on the Mighty 1090!
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