Bats Bruise, Lauer Cruises, Padres Win 5-2 and Sweep Snakes
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
San Diego, California
On a get-away Wednesday afternoon, Eric Lauer braved the rain and took the hill for the Padres opposite Merrill Kelly and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Padres were in control on both sides from the get-go.
After Lauer dished out a perfect opening frame, the Padres ambushed Kelly for three runs in the first, thanks to a two-run single by Eric Hosmer, who has been hot all month long. It was capped off by a Ty France RBI double off of the left fielder Blake Swihart’s glove, giving the Padres a 3-0 lead after one.
San Diego was not done as they scored one in the second inning when Manny Machado hit a line drive to center field with a runner on third, thus scoring the run on the sacrifice fly. Machado later added a base hit and has hit in 22 of his last 25 games. In May, Machado is batting .310 with five home runs and a .960 OPS.
The Padres would make it 5-0 in a rain-soaked third inning when Greg Garcia singled in a run, his third hit in the first three innings of the game. The Valhalla High School product finished 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
Greg Garcia has his 3rd hit of the game in the lead off spot and the @Padres go up 5-0 in the 3rd! pic.twitter.com/SC4Arw5tel
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) May 22, 2019
With a sizable lead, Lauer relaxed and went to work, hitting his spots with relative ease. He was locked in from the first inning on and only ran into a little trouble in the sixth inning, when Eduardo Escobar doubled home a run, making it 5-1 Padres.
Lauer then came out for the seventh inning and was just as dominant as he was at the beginning of the game, striking out the side. Lauer finished the day with seven innings; one earned run, zero walks, and seven strikeouts. He turned in one of the best starting pitching performances of the season for the Friars.
Eric Lauer mowed today allowing only 4 hits and 1 run over 7 innings of work. #NiceWork #Padres
— Bob Scanlan (@heyscan) May 22, 2019
Trey Wingenter came in and pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out one.
Adam Warren came into the ninth inning, trying to spare Kirby Yates from having to grind out another save. However, Arizona quickly got two hits and a run off of Warren, who was removed in favor of Yates. Yates put out the fire and locked down his major league-leading 20th save of the season, making him perfect in 20 tries. The Padres won the game 5-2 and swept the series.
Franmil Reyes, Austin Hedges, and Eric Hosmer all had two-hit games adding to the 12-hit attack the Friars had Wednesday afternoon.
This was the first three-game sweep of the season for the Padres as they improved to 26-24 on the year. The sweep could not have come at a better time after dropping below .500 for the first time all season before the series, and now they head on a tough road trip to the east coast to face the Toronto Blue Jays and red-hot New York Yankees.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.