Padres Series Recap: Padres Lose Two of Three from Reds at Petco Park
The San Diego Padres have just lost two out of three games from the Cincinnati Reds. As mentioned before this series the Padres and Reds are two very different teams since the last time they faced each other.
Coming into this series the Reds had won their last four series. Also key players like Joey Votto had stepped it up and had gone back to their usual form. On the other hand the Padres have been the most aggressive sellers of the 2016 trade deadline. This was seen again with their recent move of outfielder, Matt Kemp.
The Padres are in complete rebuilding mode at the moment, anyone can go. This combination of things lead to a pretty interesting series. It wasn’t the best of series for the Padres at all. To add to it we would also see Alex Dickerson suffer an injury in the first game of the series. It did not land him on the. but he is expected to be several days from his return.
Overall the offense turned out to be the main problem of this series. Incredibly they would only manage to score four runs in this series. Wil Myers would also not live up to his success at Petco Park. He would end up going 2-8 in the series. This was just a bad series for the Friars. Hopefully they can step their game up against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Game 1: The Shutout
The Padres have suffered several shutouts throughout the 2016 season. Well Friday night would bring another one to the table. Brandon Finnegan would be the main cause of this shutout as he would have a gem of a game. He would throw six shutout innings in which he would only allow four hits. The Padres would really struggle in this game. The four hits would come from two players, Wil Myers and Matt Kemp. There really wouldn’t be much production in the lineup at all.
Pitching wise, it would also be a rough night for the Friars. As mentioned before Edwin Jackson didn’t really convince me with his pitching. Well he sure didn’t help his cause in this game. After throwing solid games against the Giants and Nationals he would crumble against the Reds. Jackson would pitch five innings and would allow six runs to score. The main offensive star of the game would be Eugenio Suarez for the Reds. He would have a monstrous game as he would drive in four of the six runs of the night. Overall this game would really be one to forget. They would be completely dominated in every component of the game and also fail to extend their team home run streak.
Game 2: The Walk Off
After a very bad showing in the first game of the series this game would definitely be very different. The main focus of this game would definitely be the pitching. We would see a great pitching matchup in this one. The Reds would have their best pitcher, Anthony DeSclafani on the mound. He would have a strong performance as he would throw six innings and only allow a run on four hits. That run would be the product of an Alexi Amarista RBI single. Christian Friedrich would also have a very similar start to DeSclafani. Friedrich would also throw six innings and would also only allow a run. Friedrich would only allow one more hit than DeSclafani as he would allow five.
The lone run of the game for the Reds would be produced by speedster, Billy Hamilton on an RBI single. The Padres bullpen would be really on point for this game. Four different pitchers would not allow a hit for the Padres pen in this one. Those pitchers would be Jose Dominguez, Ryan Buchter, Brandon Maurer and Brad Hand. Extra innings would be needed in this one after a 1-1 affair in nine innings. The bottom of the tenth would come. Jumbo Diaz would be on the mound for the Reds. Adam Rosales would be at the plate for the Padres. Rosales would hit his eighth homer of the year to give the Padres the W in this one. Overall this would be a great game for the Padres. Despite the lack of offensive production the pitching would really be on point. It was nice to see Christian Friedrich deliver a nice start after some time.
Game Three: The Two Homers
Two homers would be the deciding factors in the last game of the series. The first one would be the starting pitcher, Homer Bailey. This would be Bailey’s first start coming back from Tommy John surgery. Bailey would not disappoint and would look in form. Homer would throw five and two-thirds and would allow two runs to score on four hits. Both runs would actually be thanks to Wil Myers. One would be a ground out and the other would be a steal of home by Myers. Despite not having a hit Myers would have a solid game on Sunday Afternoon.
The other homer that would decide this game would come in the second inning. Jose Peraza would blast his first career MLB home run to put two runs on the board. That would really turn out to be the big blow of the game against the Padres. The pitching for the Padres wouldn’t be too bad in this game. Paul Clemens would throw four and a third and would only allow that two run shot by Peraza. Then six different pitchers would come after him and only allow one run to score. The game would finish 3-2 and the Padres would lose this series. Overall the pitching was really not the flaw in this game for the Padres. The flaw turned out to be this inconsistent offense. The fact that a hit wasn’t need to drive in both of their runs says it all. Overall this series wasn’t the best for the Padres. But we sure were given some interesting games at the very least.
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.