Despite strong performance from Eric Lauer, Padres lose to Pirates 2-1
Credit: AP Photo
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Despite seven strong innings from Eric Lauer, the San Diego Padres dropped game one of a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates as the offense didn’t have any answers for Grossmont High School product Joe Musgrove.
Unlike the wildness of the Rockies series, the game between the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates was a clinic of efficient pitching as Eric Lauer and Joe Musgrove throttled any offense the teams could muster up.
The Pirates drew first blood in the first inning as, after a Bryan Reynolds single, Starling Marte slapped a line drive down the left field line to score Reynolds. Marte, however, was feeling greedy on the basepaths as he tried to stretch the double into a triple. A strong throw from Hunter Renfroe as well a dive from an attentive Fernando Tatis Jr. erased the Pirates outfielder.
The right-handed Musgrove put up zeroes through three innings while working around some traffic, but Manny Machado got to him in the fourth inning. In his 1000th career game, Machado turned on a knee-high 2-0 fastball and launched it to deep center, a 425-foot missile that tied the game at one run apiece. Machado has now homered in five of his last eight games.
Manny Machado's celebrating career game number 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ IN STYLE!
This 4️⃣2️⃣5️⃣-foot shot gets the Friars on the board!#FriarFaithful | @Padres | @MLBONFOX pic.twitter.com/khJi2rxBTU
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) June 21, 2019
Machado’s blast was the last run either team would score for a while. Lauer did his part to keep the Pirates off the board and, after allowing the run in the first, didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning on an Elias Diaz single. The left-hander pitched seven strong innings and only allowed two runs on five hits while striking out five members of the Black and Gold Brigade, an impressive bounce-back start after only pitching 2.2 innings in Colorado while allowing five runs to cross the plate.
One team eventually had to pull ahead and, unfortunately for the Friars, it was the Pirates who took the lead in the bottom of the seventh. A rare fielding error by Machado allowed Jung Ho Kang to advance to second base on a throwing error by Machado after the third baseman tried to rush the throw to first base. Jose Osuna’s ensuing RBI single scored Steven Brault, who entered the game as a pinch-runner for Kang.
San Diego came back in the eighth inning and loaded the bases via a Greg Garcia bunt single and two walks from Machado and Renfroe. With the Padres knocking on the door, Pittsburgh reliever Kyle Crick buckled down and got Franmil Reyes to pop out to end the threat. The Padres got a baserunner on in the top of the ninth inning, but pinch hitter Manny Margot lined out to shortstop to end the inning and the game.
I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.
We all know that Padre management is doing everything they can to spur Myers at the plate to somehow raise his batting average to respectability in order to fool some other team to make a trade. It’s NOT working. He is a waste of a valuable roster spot. The hole in his swing is so large that he rarely hits a foul ball. When will Preller admit that he made a huge mistake and cut his losses? I would rather see Margot in there every night and only hit 240 than to painfully watch Myers flail away with his golf swing four times a night. And why we are at it, why are we waiting til the trade deadline to make trades? Let’s get busy now. Sit Kinsler, bring up Urias. We finally sat down Hedges and are giving Mejia a chance, and his bat looks so much better.