Framing the Friars: Padres a No-Show in Series Finale Against Colorado
Credit: USA Today Sports
The main story before the Padres’ series finale at the Colorado Rockies on July 19 was Clayton Richard winning the team’s Heart and Hustle award.
Some teammates were interviewed by Fox Sports San Diego before the game started. Each player interviewed had nothing but good things to say about Richard’s work ethic and attitude, and how it translates on the field.
As for the game, ironically, the Padres were completely out-hustled by the Rockies, losing 18-4.
The Rockies completed the sweep in a huge way. The Padres were practically laughed out of Denver. They now head to San Francisco for a four-game series, July 20-23.
Things were tough from the onset. The Padres showed very little effort through the first five innings. Perhaps it was the altitude at Coors Field. Perhaps it was the team fully buying into the tank philosophy. Either way, the Friars didn’t show a lot of energy.
Manuel Margot led off the game with a walk. Later, with Wil Myers batting, Margot was picked off by Rockies starter Jon Gray. Margot couldn’t get back to the bag fast enough, wasting a leadoff walk.
In the top of the fourth inning, Myers hit an opposite-field single. The only problem, he should have gotten an extra base on the hit. Once Myers made contact, he stood and watched it before going into a trot. The ball bounced off the field in right, and Myers wasn’t able to advance past first base.
Wil Myers just singled off the right-field wall. His lack of urgency out of the box is becoming a bit of an unfortunate trend this year.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) July 19, 2017
Myers was later pulled by manager Andy Green (presumably) for what he did. The Padres were trailing 6-0 at that point. Losing teams have no place for a player to be a showboat, especially one who is expected to be a leader for the younger players. The team was needing any kind of spark to get back in the game, and Myers hit to the right field wall potentially could have gotten something started. Instead, it was just a long single.
That same inning, Hector Sanchez hit a single. Myers was able to advance to third, but nothing more. Jabari Blash struck out looking. Carlos Asuaje hit a weak popup to second base. Franchy Cordero struck out swinging. San Diego couldn’t capitalize on a pair of hits with no outs that put a runner in scoring position.
On the other side, the Rockies hit long balls that went over the fence. Colorado hit five home runs. Nolan Arenado had three of them.
Richard only pitched three-and-two-thirds innings before being pulled. He allowed 11 runs (10 earned), which ties a franchise record for the most runs given up by a San Diego starter.
Richard allowed those 11 runs on 14 hits. His ERA climbed to 5.35, and any shred of trade value he may have had before today is probably gone (speculation by the author).
An ugly afternoon for Clayton Richard is over. He’s out after allowing a career-high 10 runs.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) July 19, 2017
Not much else can be said about today’s gone. Tanking is one thing. Today was something much worse.
Mike is the sports editor for the Fayette Advertiser, and has been with East Village Times since 2015. His work has appeared on Bleacher Report. He is an avid Padres fan who is keeping the faith and trusting the process.