Padres vs. Tigers Series Recap 4/13/14

USMC wounded veteran Rob Jones throws out the first pitch during Military Opening Day ceremonies at Petco today.

Before the season even started this was a series that stood out on the schedule in the early part of the season.  Why?  Because the tigers are anticipated to be one, if not the, toughest teams in the A.L. this year.  After getting off to a slow 3-6 start to the season the series loomed even larger for the Pads as the bombers from Detroit rolled into town boasting one of the most explosive offenses in MLB, and two former Cy Young award winners on the docket to face in the last two games of the 3 game set.  A couple of bad pitches or missed opportunities could easily have found the Padres sitting with a 3-9 record and a deep hole in the standings, and emotionally to dig out of.  Instead they take 2 out of 3, holding the Tiger offense mostly in check, and beating last year’s Ace of the A.L.  Here’s how it happened:

• GAME #1 – Knowing that they had to face Verlander and Scherzer in games 2 and 3, this was the game they had to get to assure there would be no sweep, and open the possibility to taking 2 out 3.  With their stud Cashner on the mound, it was also their best chance of holding the Tiger offense in check. Things could not have gone any better with Cashner holding up his end of the bargain, holding Detroit hitless through 5, and ultimately firing a dominating 1-hit shutout.  He also chimed in with a hit, and a run scored to the offense that gave him an early 2-0 lead, added 2 more in the 6th thanks to a Headley HR, and 2 more in the 7th with Cash’s help.  It was an inspiring 6-0 victory and effort by the Padres, and Cashner in particular to make a statement in game one that the Padres were in no way going to back down from the highly hyped A.L. Central favorites.  1-o padres.
• GAME #2 – Facing Verlander, the Pads knew they were going to have to likely scratch and claw to get some runs, and needed a good outing from Kennedy to keep it close.  Detroit scored 1 in the 1st, and the Pads answered right back with a run of their own to tie it.  Kennedy then allowed a run in the 3rd, but the killer blow came in the 4th, allowing a 2-out, 2-run single to Hunter to give the Cats a 4-1 lead. The friars got within 2 thanks to a Headley/Grandal double/single combo, but it was too much to overcome Verlander who pitched more like a middle aged starter with 60% breaking balls, and mostly 89-92 MPH fastballs than the flame thrower he used to be.  Still, he knows how to pitch and lead his team to 6-2 victory.  Series tied 1-1.
• GAME #3 – Great match up between last years’ A.L. CY Young winner, Scherzer, and Ross who for the second half of last season was as tough to hit as anyone on the N.L.  The question was would last year’s Ross show up, as his first two outings this year had been filled with command problems. The answer was answered quickly as Tyson came out firing in the first, spotting his fastball down –  a good sign.  He retied the first 7 batter he faced before allowing a hit.  Along the way the Pads got to Scherzer with a blast by Gyorko over the left field fence to post a 1-0 lead.  Ross was touched for a run in the 4th to tie it up at 1-1, but the Friars responded quickly and impressively in their half of the 4th.  With the help of back to back walks by Scherzer to start the inning, which included a grinding 11 pitch at bat by Alonso, Venable then doubled to score both runners, and Ross himself drove in the third run of the inning to give the Pads a 4-1 lead.  Ross shut the Tigers down for three more innings before handing a 5-1 led to the bullpen, thanks to a Pinch-hit HR by Nady in the 7th (his last 3 MLB hits going back to 2012 have now been HR’s).  Benoit and Street did what they do, throw strikes and shut the door, and the 5-1 victory was complete, as was the 2-1 series victory.

The Padres did two things exceptionally well to take this series.  First, the pitched Miguel Cabrera brilliantly, and held the game’s best hitter to only 1 hit and 1 RBI in 13 plate appearances during the series.  Second, they used great patience at the plate to defeat Scherzer today, and did a better job of coming up with hits with runners on base throughout the series.  Combine that with some excellent defensive plays (3 Coleman Stars, and could have possibly been more), and you have winning baseball against anyone.

Like Ricky Bobby to Jean Girard in Talladega Nights, the Padres can stand nose to nose with the Tigers and say, “What does that do, does that blow your mind?  THAT just happened!”  Yep, it did just happen, and with it the Padres are now 5-7, with a chance to take the momentum against a Rockies team that has lost 4 of their last 7.

Here are the match ups for the Colorado series:

• Game 1 (7:10 p.m.) – Stults vs. Lyles
• Game 2 (7:10 p.m.) – Erlin vs. Nicasio
• Game 3 (7:10 p.m.) – Cashner vs. De La Rosa

Looking forward to the Padres keeping the intensity and focus going after this exciting opening series!

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