Nick Hundley gets five from Buddy Black as he reaches dugout after his HR in the 7th that got the Padres to within 1 in game #3.
The Padres finished up the home stand taking 2 out of 3 from the Giants, to post a winning 6-4 record over the 10 game home stretch. All three games with the orange and black were well played and close, with pitching being the dominant force for both teams that are equally struggling to score runs in the early part of the season. Here’s how the winning series was earned by the Padres.
- GAME #1 – For his second outing in a row Tyson Ross was outstanding, this time going 8 strong, shutout innings protecting a 1-run lead that was given to him in the first inning. Chris Denorfia tripled, and scored on a passed ball, and that was the Padres offense until the 8th, when Yasmani Grandal came of the bench to pop a pinch-hit color homer to give the Pads a little cushion. That “little” cushion proved the be the difference in the game as Huston Street would allow a HR to Belt before locking down the final out for the Padres victory and his 6th save of the season. Great pitching once again made the most of what the offense could offer to help the Friars take the first game of the series. 1-0 Padres.
- GAME #2 – Again the Pads were abel to get a run early, this time thanks to singles by Seth Smith and Yonder Alonso in the 2nd. Eric Stults, after getting knocked around a little in his previous outing, was sharp from the first pitch this time, and held the 1-0 lead until the 5th when Michael Morse hit a solo shot to tie it. The Friars, however, wasted no time answering back, retaking the lead with an Alexi Amarista single, then Everth Cabrera triple to plate a run to go ahead 2-1. Stults would hold that lead for another inning before handing it off to Nick Vincent who struck out the side in the 7th, and Thayer who posted a scoreless 8th. Chris Denorfia would make it a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th thanks to a perfectly executed suicide squeeze scoring Venable who doubled earlier, and Benoit would give Street the night off of closing duties by firing a 1-2-3 9th to lock down the Padres win, his first Padres save, and a guaranteed series victory. 2-0 Padres.
- Game #3 – Looking for the sweep Robbie Erlin went to the hill against Tim Lincecum, and struggled in the early going allowing a Posey 2-run HR in the first, and a Pagan 2-run single in the 2nd to give SF an early 4-0 lead. The Friars fought back though, scoring 2 on a Headley bases loaded double in the 3rd that would have scored 3 had Bochy’s challenge of the tag out at the plate not resulted in an overturned call. Erlin settled down after his early struggles, and made it through the 6th with the Pads trailing by 2. Again the bullpen would do their job with Alex torres, Vincent, and Tim Stauffer posting zeros to keep it close. Nick Hundley who had two hits on the day, got the boys within 1 after his solo home run in the 7th that chased Lincecum, but the Giants bullpen held the lead the rest of the way and took the finale 4-3. 2-1 series win Padres.
Yes, it would have been nice to complete the sweep. Yes, there were a couple of other games in the home stand that with one key hit, or key pitch could have resulted in a more impressive 7-3, or even 8-2 home stand record. Yes, the offense is still not providing enough run support to a pitching staff that has been outstanding. All that being said, this team is holding it’s own despite the offense getting off to a slow start, and has shown the ability to stay in games, hold a leads, and fight back. When the hitters start to do nothing more than return to their career norms, and the pitching continues what it’s been doing things could get really interesting for this ball club.
Several of the bats are starting to warm up. Cabrera has been getting his hits from the start and is still at .329/.338. Hundley is making the most of his limited opportunities hitting .316, while Grandal and Denorfia are each now at .306, with Yas sporting a .425 OBP. Meanwhile over the past 7 days Venable has been hitting .381/.426, and Seth Smith .400/.526 so the offensive thaw appears to be taking place.
The next 10 game road trip will be no walk through the park facing the Brewers, Nationals, and Giants again. Here are the match ups for the upcoming Brewer series:
- Game #1 (5:10 p.m.) – Cashner vs. Peralta
- Game #2 (5:10 p.m.) – Kennedy vs. Gallardo
- Game #3 (5:10 p.m.) – Ross vs. Lohse
Should be some quality pitching from the Padres and Brewers pitching staffs who are currently 3rd and 2nd respectively in N.L. team ERA. Yet another test for the Padres who are coming off a nice response to the test of this home stand besting the Tigers, Rockies, and Giants.
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