To kick off their second series on this road trip, the Padres faced the Angels’ ace in a good old-fashioned pitchers’ duel. 

San Diego was able to strike early against Angels southpaw Tyler Anderson, with a homer by Manny Machado putting the Friars up 1-0 early.

This early run support would greatly benefit Padres starter Matt Waldron, who entered the game with a 1.95 ERA in his last four starts. Waldron would deliver yet another quality outing tonight, posting 6.1 innings of one-run baseball.

Waldron continued his recent trends in this start, making the knuckleball his primary offering. He greatly varied the velocity on that pitch, from 70.2 mph on the slow end up to 83.7 mph at peak velocity. The heavy blending of knuckleballs and sweepers allowed Waldron to sequence his three primary pitches effectively.

Despite six three-ball counts, Waldron did not walk a batter, a promising sign for him and the Padres’ faith in him as their fifth starter.

The Padres’ offense had quite a challenge ahead of them in Tyler Anderson, the same Anderson who had shut them out through five innings in Game 4 of the 2022 National League Division Series. The Padres struggled against left handed pitching this season, but some early thump by Manny Machado gave the Padres some hope.

The Friars would muster three walks and five hits across 6.2 innings against the southpaw. They would have more in the run column against him, too, but a perfect relay by the Angels on a double by Fernando Tatis Jr would nab Jurickson Profar at the plate. Despite minimal opportunities, the Padres’ 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position was not an ideal sign.

The eighth inning would see Profar double and Machado be handed an intentional walk, but Hunter Strickland stranded the runners on base. The Angels got a runner to third in the bottom of the frame against Adrian Morejon, and they would push the run across on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Luis Guillorme.

Down a run in the ninth, the Padres were unable to mount a comeback against Halos closer Carlos Estevez, with Tyler Wade grounding out to end the game.

The Padres look to get back in the win column on Tuesday night at 6:38 pm. Tuesday’s game is considered a must-watch TV, as the Padres’ #5 prospect, Adam Mazur, makes his Major League debut.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.