Padres Series Recap: Padres Swept By Giants in Bay Area

The San Diego Padres just got swept in a three game series against the San Francisco Giants. That doesn’t sound to good but there are still some positives to take from this sweep.

Sure the Pads just lost all three games against the Gigantes, but did you notice that all the games were pretty close. Game one ended 5-4, game two 1-0, and game three was a total slug fest at 13-9. Sadly the bullpen is yet again struggling to perform and played an important role in a couple of the losses we saw in the Bay.

The bullpen is not the only component of the team to blame though in these three losses. In game two the offense simply did not perform. In game three, while the bullpen did play a role in the loss, Andrew Cashner also had a shaky start allowing six runs to cross the plate.

Something to take from this series is that the team itself has been horribly inconsistent. There always seems to be a component from the team that fails miserably while the other teams perform enough to win a ballgame. Sometimes it’s the bullpen, sometimes the offense gets shutout, and sometimes the starter doesn’t perform.

With that being said let us take a quick step back. Let’s remember that this team isn’t supposed to be good in the first place and we were not supposed to win this series against the Giants. However they are certainly more than capable of doing so.

Game 1: A passed ball and a sac fly

It was a battle of two great pitchers. The Padres best pitcher so far this season Drew Pomeranz and the Giants best pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Pomeranz did not have his best start pitching four and a third and allowing three runs. It wasn’t a bad start, the bullpen would allow two runs which were crucial to the final outcome of the game and that would ultimately be the Padres downfall.

Pomeranz would leave in the fifth inning with Buster Posey on first and Joe Panik on second. Luis Perdomo would enter the game; a passed ball would allow Panik to reach third. Hunter Pence would then come to the plate and the Giants would score a run on a sacrifice fly, a passed ball and a sac fly. That’s never a good way to concede a run.

In the seventh inning Carlos Villanueva would allow a home run off the bat of Buster Posey and the game would now be 5-2.  The Padres would come close to a comeback as Alexei Ramirez and Brett Wallace would deliver RBI singles in the eighth inning but that would be that and the Padres would lose the game 5-4.

Ultimately what in my opinion really hurt the Padres in this game would be that passed ball and sacrifice fly. That is just not the way you want to be allowing a run to cross the plate. I don’t blame Villanueva at all because giving up a home run to Buster Posey isn’t a big deal. He’s a great player that will do that to even the best pitchers. On the other hand it is pretty worrying that Carlos has now given up four home runs in this early campaign. So he definitely has to sort that out. The Padres could have definitely won this game, but things did just not work out their way.

Game 2: No offense but Shields looked good

James “Juego G” Shields would just have an amazing game. Anytime any pitcher can go seven innings and only allow a run, that’s more than enough to be able to win a ballgame. If you can point out something negative in Shields outing it would have to be that he did walk four batters.

All in all if your only giving up a run in seven innings you should be winning the game. The offense would be the component that failed on this day and wouldn’t get a single run off of Johnny Cueto who would pitch a gem. Cueto would pitch a complete game shutout and strike out 11.

The offense would have a couple of chances to score in the game as they were able to string seven hits off Cueto, but just couldn’t capitalize on their attempts. The standout player would have to have been Alexei Ramirez who would get a double and single in three at bats. Wil Myers would only get a hit but that hit would extend his hitting streak to 11 games. This was yet another game that the Padres could have easily won but again not all components would step up to the plate. A common theme.

Game 3: Padres lose slug-fest

While game two was a pitchers duel game three was far from it ending 13-9. Andrew Cashner would have a rough day on the mound allowing six runs to cross the plate in just two and two-thirds innings. The bullpen would struggle heavily as newly promoted Michael Kirkman would allow four runs to cross the plate and Luis Perdomo would allow three runs on the day.

Fernando Rodney would also get a chance to pitch on the day and would not look the best. Although Rodney did not allow a run he would walk two batters which isn’t a good thing. The offense would explode for the Padres as they would get nine runs. The Friars would get three home runs on the day; a two run shot by Matt Kemp, a solo shot by Adam Rosales, and a three run blast by Wil Myers to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

Other standouts at the plate would be a Jemile Weeks who would only get one hit, but that lone hit would be an RBI triple. Even Andrew Cashner would help himself out with an RBI single off Samardzija. The offense was phenomenal for the Padres but unfortunately for the Pads the Giants offense would be even better scoring 13 runs on the day.

The standout performer for the Giants would definitely be Brandon Belt who would snag himself five RBIs on the day. Jeff Samardzija would also help himself out and get two RBI on the day. Overall the Padres downfall in this game would boil down to the bullpen as they just let the Giants bats explode. Sure Cashner allowed six runs to cross the plate, but the bullpen didn’t help the cause by allowing seven more runs to score. This was the final game of the series and yet again the Padres could have definitely won this game too.

Storylines

Should Luis Perdomo be on the team?

There is one answer for this question and it quite simply is no. There was always questions surrounding Perdomo, as the highest level of baseball he had pitched was High-A and he’s just been bad this season. Perdomo has allowed 13 earned runs to cross the plate that is an outrageous number of runs to have allowed at this point in the season.

I mean he clearly needs some time in the minors to develop and the Padres may just have to send him back to the Cardinals, for not just the team’s sake but his own sake as well. There are arms in El Paso that are ready to jump into the major leagues now like Frank Garces or Greg Reynolds. Even guys like Jeremy Guthrie or Daniel McCutchen should be allowed to have a shot in the bullpen, even though there not naturally relievers. Another thing to consider is that Matt Thornton and Jon Edwards are close to coming back as well. There is more than enough arms on this team to not have Perdomo on it. There is depth in this organization, let’s take full advantage of it.

This Team Has Depth

Like I just mentioned before this team has depth, this series also showed us that we have depth in our position players as well. Both Adam Rosales and Jemile Weeks had moments of greatness in this series and when everyone is healthy again, it’s almost certain one of them will not be on the 25-man roster anymore. Alexi Amarista started out in El Paso this year, but is almost certainly going to stick around after looking amazing to start out the campaign. Then we have Jose Pirela down in El Paso he could also be an outside option. The decision to who will be on the major league club will be a tough one for Andy Green but it is certainly nice that the Padres have the luxury of having that decision in the first place.

Francisco Velasco

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.