More rain delays, Padres lose 4-2 to Phillies

Every game is a story of adversity. Typically that adversity comes from the other team, not the weather. The game was delayed by two hours before the first pitch was ever thrown, then in the fourth, the skies opened back up, delaying the game by another 45 minutes.

This was the fourth time that weather has made its impact on the Padres. It is taking a toll on the team. When the umpires called for stoppage in the 4^th, Jayce Tingler went out and urged them to keep the game going, or at least finish the inning. Delays like that tend to shorten the leash for starting pitchers. Considering the Padres pen is overworked, it’s easy to see Tingler’s frustrations.

“We’ve got to deal with it. We’ve got to deal with the adversity. We’ve still got to play winning baseball, and tonight we didn’t. We probably deserve to win that game. We just didn’t do enough in all the categories that we needed to do. But we get back tomorrow, (with) a chance to finish off the trip 3-3 before the break,” Jayce Tingler said.

He did talk about how the constant weather delays cannot be and isn’t an excuse. Both teams have to play in the same conditions. And how grateful everyone should be to play in San Diego’s climate.

It wasn’t the pitching that was the problem this time around. The offense was pretty nonexistent. After the second weather delay (4^th inning), they only go one base once. They did start on a very good note. Fernando Tatis Jr.hit a tough grounder in the 5.5 gap that got past Didi Gregorious. That set up Manny Machado to hit a two-run home run to centerfield.

The start did look so promising. After the first inning Phillies starter, Zach Eflin threw 28 pitches, including many pickoff attempts to keep Tatis at first base. This was exactly what they wanted. Push the starter out of the game and get to the weak bullpen. The rain delay did help add 45 minutes of Eflin not throwing. He would go on to work six innings while only allowing Machado to knock in some runs.

Yu Darvish wasn’t his normal ace self. He gave up three or more runs for just the fourth time this season. The Phillies were able to capitalize on his mistakes in big fashion. Five of the six hits that he allowed were extra-base hits. This included solo shots by Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins in the second innings.

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While no error was given, Eric Hosmer did have a blunder in the sixth inning which helped the Phillies tack on two more runs. He never picked up a routine pop-up in foul territory, with the ball seemingly getting lost in the lights. That ball dropped and could have been a crucial second out in the inning.

After six innings of work Nabil Crismatt and Pierce Johnson came into pitch. They were able to hold the lead in place, but the offense wasn’t able to come back. As Jayce Tingler said, they will have a chance tomorrow to tie to road trip before the break.

Evan Anderson

Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.