Zack Davies earns victory in Padres debut against Giants
Credit: Padres
San Francisco, California
The San Diego Padres moved to 4-1 with their third straight win against the San Francisco Giants, 5-3.
Zack Davies’ solid start for the Padres led the way, allowing the offense to survive on just two home runs off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Wil Myers.
The San Francisco Giants jumped out to an early lead in the first inning thanks to a misplay by Manny Machado and an odd error charged to Tommy Pham. Davies then quieted the Giants bats, retiring the next eight batters.
The San Diego Padres failed to get on base the first two innings, but Wil Myers and Francisco Mejia reached safely to start the third. Fernando Tatis Jr. drove them in on an opposite-field home run. The Padres never trailed after this point.
From a 3-1 count to a 3-1 ballgame.@tatis_jr 💣 #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/ouEfASHyps
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 29, 2020
Wil Myers added two more runs on a bomb to left-center field in the fourth inning, extending the lead to 5-1.
For all his troubles last year, Wil Myers had a 1.147 OPS in 64 PAs against the Giants last season.
He is 2-for-2 tonight, including the two-run homer he just sent into the Giants bullpen 422 feet from home plate.— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) July 29, 2020
The bats became nonexistent following the two home runs. This followed the trend of the previous two games in which the Padres jumped out to an early lead, but took the foot off the gas pedal when the opposing bullpen came in.
Zack Davies ran out of gas in the sixth inning, and manager Jayce Tingler pulled him following two doubles from the San Francisco Giants to lead off the inning. Matt Strahm relieved Davies and limited the Giants to only scoring the two runners who were in scoring position when he entered the game. The lead trimmed to 5-3, but never changed following the sixth.
The San Diego Padres threatened to score in the eighth inning, but Eric Hosmer flew out with the bases loaded to end the inning. The insurance runs were not necessary with Emilio Pagan and Drew Pomeranz, the Padres two significant offseason additions to the bullpen, shutting the door.
FINAL: #Padres 5, Giants 3#PadresWin #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/MGWx9i1Tk2
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 29, 2020
The Padres still sit atop the National League West at 4-1. The Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers both won Tuesday night as well, so they both sit half a game back.
Wednesday night is Paddack night, as he faces off against San Francisco Giants ace Johnny Cueto. The first pitch is at 6:45 p.m.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”
I liked how Davies looked. He isn’t overpowering but I think that’s a good thing within our rotation. I’m happy we traded for him. We need to give Torrens a look now since neither Hedges or Mejia can find the bat rack.