Padres Series Recap: Cubs Sweep Padres At Petco Park
The San Diego Padres have just been swept by the Chicago Cubs. What does this mean? Is it time to panic? No. of course not.
This is the result which was most likely in this series. The fact that the Padres were swept by the best team in baseball isn’t a bad thing. It’s just what was expected to happen and it ultimately did end up happening.
Something that is relevant, is that the Padres have now lost five out of their last six series. This would include sweeps by the Rays and the Cubs in the mix as well. The Friars definitely find themselves in tremendously bad form at the moment.
Still there is no need to worry. Let’s remember that in order for this rebuilding process to happen, we must suffer a bit. Just like the Chicago Cubs did for several years. Look at them now, there on top of the world and one of their best players was a draft pick. So stay positive Friar Faithful, our time will come. For now let’s endure this pain and try to make the most of it.
Game One: Three Homers and a Jon
The first game of the series would be a really simple game to breakdown. The Cubs would come out on top as expected. Three home runs and Jon Lester would ultimately be what would lead Chicago to a W. Lester would look really solid in his six frames of work. The lefty would only allow a run on five hits with two walks. As opposed to Lester, Edwin Jackson would really struggle in this game. Jackson would allow five runs on seven hits through five innings. Among those seven hits would be three home runs that would lead the Cubs to victory. Addison Russell would provide the first of the night in the second inning of the game. The solo shot would give the Cubs the early lead. Russell would then go on to provide the second run of the game as well. Russell would drive in Dexter Fowler with a sac-fly to give Chicago the 2-0 lead.
After that the game would stay quiet until the fifth inning of the game. Former USD Torrero, Kris Bryant would start it off by smashing a solo shot to make a 3-0 game. Jason Heyward would then continue the action with a two-run shot of his own. The Friars would then be down 5-0 after five innings. Edwin Jackson would have another very rough outing. Unlike Jackson, the bullpen would actually look pretty solid. The highlight of the game for the Padres would have to have been the bullpen. Keith Hessler and Jose Dominguez would provide two scoreless frames each in the game. That would be the only positive throughout the game. The offense would also be very dormant throughout the game. They would provide six hits but would also strike out 14 times. The only run the Padres would see in the game wouldn’t even come via production of a Padres batter. A wild pitch by Justin Grimm is what would turn out to be the only run for the Friars in this very grim game. Overall this would definitely be a game to forget for Friars fans. The game would end 5-1 and would set the tone for this series. That being that the Cubs are the better team and that they would show it.
Game Two: Sir Jake The 16th
The second game of the series would be very similar to the first game of the series. We would again see a very solid pitching performance by a cubs pitcher. The Cubs would also manage to score five runs in the game yet again. The similarities wouldn’t stop there however as you saw. Jake Arrieta would come out and throw an absolute gem for the Cubs. The former Cy Young Award winner would throw eight shutout innings in which he would only allow two hits. Arrieta would show his dominance and achieve his 16th win of the season. He would be the first N.L. pitcher to accomplish that feat. Much like Monday night we would see another struggling Padres Pitcher on the mound. Christian Friedrich would go five and a third and allow five runs to score in the game. Just like Edwin Jackson he would allow five runs on seven hits. Also just like Jackson, Friedrich would give up home runs to some of the same guys as Monday night. Kris Bryant would go yard off Friedrich in the third inning of the game. Bryant would smash his 33rd home run of the season and give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.
We then would pick up the action again in the fifth inning of the game. Ben Zobrist would drive in Kris Bryant with a double to make it a 2-0 game. Addison Russell would then blast a two-run bomb which would drive in Zobrist. The Cubs would lead 4-0 after five innings. The Cubs would continue their attack in the sixth inning of the game. Kris Bryant would drive in Jake Arrieta via a sacrifice fly. The Cubs would have a comfortable 5-0 lead after six. The Padres would not get the offense going until the very last inning. Rookie, Felix Pena would come in for the Cubs with a 5-0 lead. The Padres would try to make it interesting and would end up scoring on the rookie. The Padres would then make it a save situation at 5-1 and runners on first and third. Aroldis Chapman would come in and try to shut the door. Chapman would not be perfect as he would end up giving up some runs. Yangervis Solarte would drive in Adam Rosales with a sac-fly. Wil Myers would then score via a wild pitch by Chapman. So just like Monday night we would see another wild pitch by a Cubs pitcher. Despite the struggles, unfortunately Chapman would end up closing it out for the Cubs. The game would end at 5-3 and the Padres would officially lose the series at this point. The game would be really similar to Monday night’s affair. In fact the Padres bullpen would be a positive in the game. The pen would deliver three and two-thirds shutout innings for the Pads. That again would turn out to be the key positive for the Padres. In terms of offense again nobody would really standout. Also Friedrich would look pretty poor on the mound as well. The Cubs yet again would show their superiority over a team like the Padres and take the series.
Game Three: Sweep and Weep
The finale of the series would again bring us a game of similar fashion to this series. We would see less home runs in this one but the Padres would still lose the game 6-3. We would also yet again see a very solid pitching performance by a Cub hurler. While seeing a poor one by a Friar. Kyle Hendricks would have a very solid performance against the Padres. He would only allow two runs on four hits through six innings of work. Hendricks would also only allow two walks and strike out eight batters. As for the Padres, Paul Clemens would deliver another pretty lackluster performance. Clemens would allow five runs on seven hits through five and a third innings. Sounds familiar? Well it should, that was the exact start that Christian Friedrich would provide on Tuesday. The Cubs would start their bombardment on Clemens very early on. Ben Zobrist would drive in a couple with a triple in the first inning of the game. A sac-fly by Jorge Soler would then drive in Zobrist as well. The game would already be 3-0 to the Cubs after an inning.
The Padres offense would actually look a bit better this time around. We would see some solid performances by the Friars throughout the game. The Padres would start it off pretty early as well. Brett Wallace would drive in Ryan Schimpf via a sac-fly in the second inning of the game. The Padres would then continue to do damage in the third inning of the game. Wil Myers would hit a rare triple and drive in Travis Jankowski. We would have an exciting 3-2 game after three innings. The Cubs would unfortunately kill that excitement in the sixth inning of the game. An error by Luis Sardinas would prove to be very costly in the game. Two runs would score because of it in the sixth inning of the game. After that error the Cubs would have a much more comfortable 5-2 lead. Wilson Contreras would expand that lead in the seventh inning with a solo home run to right. The rookie backstop would make it a 6-2 game. The Friars would then deliver their final strike of the game in the eighth inning. Ryan Schimpf would get himself an RBI double as the Padres last glimmer of hope. Unfortunately nothing else would come of the game and the Padres would lose 6-3. The Padres would get swept by the best team in baseball. As if nobody saw that one coming. Overall this series turned out to be pretty lackluster and definitely lacked excitement. These games were much too predictable to even enjoy really. Well hopefully we can get that dose of excitement in the next series in Miami. Until Then Friar Faithful, enjoy your off day and, Go Padres!
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.