Padres Series Recap: Padres Swept Again By Giants
The San Diego Padres have just been swept against the San Francisco Giants for the third time this season. The Padres are now 0-9 against the Giants in 2016.
The glimmer of hope that the Padres had to their season is now gone. Now it is more than clear that this team will not amount to anything this season. The Padres now sit 10 and a half out of first.
Yeah this is pretty much what I was expecting, but I didn’t want to see happen. The Padres now sit in dead last, and the Giants are now the hottest team in baseball winning nine out of their last 10 games. This is the real season we were destined to have. Not some fallacy that the ownership had created. The fact of the matter is that we are in desperate need of rebuilding this team. As long as the front office thinks we still have a chance, we won’t ever see a chance of success.
Game 1: The Heart Breaker
Well I said that if Johnny Cueto managed to throw a third complete game against the Padres, he would earn himself a new nickname. It is just incredible how Cueto has performed against the Padres this season. Cueto has now thrown 27 innings against the Friars this season. That is hard to believe in its own right. To add to it, Cueto has done marvelous in those 27 innings of work. He has only allowed a single run and has struck out 28 padres batters. In this particular game he would only allow two hits. Not even Alexei Ramirez would manage to get to him this time around.
All hail “The Friar Killer”. Now for the Padres we saw our best pitcher out there. We saw the lefty phenom, Drew Pomeranz on the mound. He himself would have a really nice game. Pomeranz would go seven shutout innings and only allow two hits. Now you may be asking yourself, how did the Padres manage to lose this game? Well it’s really a heart breaker, if it wasn’t for journalistic purposes I wouldn’t even want to talk about it.
This was the worse loss the Padres have had yet. This is the worst loss any MLB team has had this season. The travesty would occur in the bottom of the ninth inning. Brad Hand would be the man on the mound. Before you say anything, it wasn’t his fault. Brandon Belt would get a single. Then Hunter Pence would be the man at the plate. Hunter would hit what would seem like a routine popup. Well it didn’t work out that way. Alexi Amarista and Matt Kemp would have a communication problem. The ball would drop and Belt would score all the way from first. Of course this happened, we are the Padres remember. The Padres would really display it this time around that there’s no way there going to contend anytime soon.
Game 2: The Blowout
In game two the Padres once again would demonstrate their true colors. Andrew Cashner would start for the Padres in this one. He wouldn’t have a bad day on the mound as he would throw six innings and only allow three runs to cross the plate. Just like Pomeranz he did the best he could in an attempt to get a win for his team. The starting pitching yet again is what shines in this dark period for the Padres. The scapegoat in this one would be recently called up Keith Hessler. In all fairness a lot of the fault for this loss would weigh on his shoulders. Hessler would come in for Cashner and would allow five runs to cross the plate.
Brandon Crawford would be the main contributor for the Giants as he would hit a bases clearing triple in the eighth which would make the game 6-1 in the Giants favor. Crawford would have another monster game against the Padres as he would have four RBI in this one. Jarrett Parker would also contribute in the eighth for the Giants. He would have a two run shot to make the game 8-1. The game would finish in blowout fashion with a score of 8-2. Jon Jay would get his second home run of the season in the sixth inning. He would be the only Padre who would manage to get a run off of Jeff Samardzija. Then all the way in the ninth inning Hector Sanchez would be the only other Padre to get on the board. This would be just another frustrating game to watch as a Padres fan.
Game Three: Nine and O
The Padres would actually not looks as bad in this game. This had to be their best performance of this disastrous series. James Shields would be on the mound for the Pads and would look solid. In the bottom of the second he would allow a run off a single by Kelby Tomlinson. Then in the bottom of the sixth another run would come in via Matt Duffy to make it 2-0 Giants. Shields would look good though. He would only allow those two runs and strike out six in his six innings of work. Former Friar Jake Peavy would be the one on the mound for the Giants. He had been abysmal coming into this game. Peavy had an ERA of 8.21 but the Padres would not be able to take advantage of that. Peavy would look great. He would go six and two-thirds innings and only allow a run. The only run he would allow would come from Alexei Ramirez in the top of the seventh inning. The game would be 2-1.
The Giants would then strike in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 3-1 ballgame. Shockingly enough Ryan Buchter would be the one who would allow the run to cross the plate. The Pads would then tie the game in the top of the eighth inning. Yangervis Solarte would hit an absolute bomb and tie the game at three. We then would go to extras. Brad Hand would be the man of the mound (of course). Matt Duffy would single with one out then Hand would throw a wild pitch that would turn out to be vital in this game. Duffy would advance to second. Brandon Crawford would get a booming hit and deliver the game winner for the Giants. That would be the eleventh RBI that Crawford has put past the Giants. Just like Cueto he might soon earn a specific nickname as well. Overall this wasn’t a bad loss. It quite simply was just a loss. A hard fought game. Was it frustrating? Oh yeah you better believe it. I mean not being able to produce against Peavy, then the wild pitch, yeah this game produced migraines about as much as the others.
Storyline
Come on Padres at least make it fun!
Before the season had started I had written an article which suggested that this season could be fun, as long as the players make it that way. Well if the Padres keep on playing this way, we won’t do anything and it won’t be fun. We have seen some classic Padres moments in this season like leaving the bases loaded late in the games. But I mean that’s something we are used to seeing. What I saw in game one of this series was just something else. I mean really. That had to be one of the most heart breaking losses since that wild card tie breaker against the Rockies back in 2007. I mean just how can you lose a game in that fashion? That is a slap in the face to every single Padre fan. Especially the few who haven’t lost hope. I’m a realist. So I’ll just give it straight. This season is lost. It’s over. The hope is lost in this team. What we can see however is young players who could potentially have a spot in this team for the future. There are some players who we could potentially see when this team finally decides to start a real rebuilding process.
Players like Cesar Vargas, Christian Bethancourt and Drew Pomeranz can provide a solid nucleus. Players like that make this Padres team fun. Fernando Rodney is another player who has been giving all he has. We may even see him in the mid-summer classic if he continues with his form. I mean who doesn’t want to see that. For now though, I am together with all of you. We could see some more games like the ones we saw this series, but we will keep on watching. We are Padres fans we were meant to be put through some tough times. Let’s just enjoy our over priced outfielders, our fake rivalries and enjoy some Padres baseball.
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.