Darvish Dominates Padres, Friars Fall to Cubs 4-1
Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Petco Park-San Diego, CA
Dinelson Lamet took the mound for the Padres on Thursday afternoon in hopes that the Friars could snag a four-game series win over the Chicago Cubs who are in the thick of a playoff race. However, they faced four-time All-Star Yu Darvish from the Cubs, so that would be no easy task.
The Cubs jumped on Lamet early. Anthony Rizzo worked a leadoff walk and then got to third on a single. Kris Bryant then hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Rizzo and giving the Cubs an early 1-0 lead.
Lamet would settle in, tossing two scoreless innings before the Cubs got to him again in the top of the fourth. After a walk and a single, Ian Happ singled home two runs, boosting the Cubs lead to 3-0.
Lamet would finish five innings, allowing three earned runs with four hits and two walks along with seven strikeouts. He was replaced by Nick Margevicius, who allowed an earned run after Jason Heyward led off the seventh with a double and eventually came around to score, giving the Cubs a 4-0 lead.
Greg Garcia leads off the bottom of the 6th with a triple into right field!@Padres | #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/VHHdcrTzRV
— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD) September 12, 2019
The story of the day was the dominance of Yu Darvish. He was in command of the Padres’ patchwork lineup for most of the day. The Friars lineup was missing Manny Machado, Manuel Margot, and Hunter Renfroe.
Darvish tossed six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out a whopping 14 Friar hitters, one short of his career-high. Darvish struggled earlier in the season but has had a strong second half, coming into this game with a 2.69 ERA in 10 starts since the break.
The Padres bats remained silent after Darvish left the game as two Cubs relievers combined to complete the win but not before the Padres made a little noise in the bottom of the ninth. They were able to load the bases for pinch-hitter Manny Machado, who then was plunked, bringing in a run. Luis Urias then struck out to end the game.
The Padres had a chance to win a series at home against the Cubs but failed to capitalize. The Padres only accumulated five hits while working four walks and striking out an astounding 19 times. Unproductive at-bats continue to plague this team.
The Friars now head to Colorado for a weekend bout with the Rockies, starting Friday at 5:40 PM PDT.
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.
Patchwork lineup is being kind. When I got to Petco and saw the lineup I knew in my heart we had little to no chance of victory. I simply do not understand Green’s ways of thinking. On Wednesday night Margot got three hits but was not in Thursday’s lineup. When a player is hot and his confidence is high I thought it was a no brainer for him to play. Lamet would have had to be near perfect for us to have won this game. Darvish was smarter than Allen, Hosmer, Urias, France, Myers and Naylor. It seemed like every one of their at bats was exactly the same. They all watched strikes go by, not swinging and then they swung at balls in the dirt for strike three. I hope these guys are talking to each other in the dugout about how the opposing pitcher is throwing to them, but it sure seems like the aren’t.