Padres Series Recap: Dodgers Destroy Padres in Opening Series
The Opening three game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers could not have gone any worse for the San Diego Padres. In those three games, the Padres were outscored by a combined total of 25-0, setting a major league record.
With 27 consecutive scoreless innings to begin the season, Padres fans are down in the dumps. The Padres were unable to collect many hits at all, let alone string them together, and were abysmal with runners in scoring position as a team. All in all, it was a forgettable first series of the year for the 2016 San Diego Padres.
At current, the Padres have only six hitters with a positive batting average. And only one with a batting average over .300. Three of the Padres opening day starters have yet to collect their first hits of the season, and the best hitter average wise has only batted three times so far this year. Right now, Jon Jay is the team leader in hits with three, trailed by Matt Kemp, Yangervis Solarte, and Wil Myers who all have two hits on the season.
By contrast, the Los Angeles Dodgers faired much better in the Opening Series, collecting 25 runs total, including a 15 run outburst on Opening Day. Yasiel Puig led the team with six hits in the opening series, including two triples and a home run. Adrian Gonzalez also produced well, collecting four hits and driving in three runs in the series. Overall, the Dodgers offense was much, much better than the Padres over the first three games of the year.
As for the pitching, the Padres were shut out on three consecutive nights by Clayton Kershaw, Scott Kazmir, and Kenta Maeda. On the Padres end, all three of their starting pitchers had at least some struggles. Ross was lit up for six runs on opening day, while Shields gave up three runs in his start, and Cashner gave up five. Shields had the best start of the three, but no run support doomed the Padres once again.
At the end of Wednesday’s game, the Padres set the record for the worst start to a season, with 27 straight scoreless innings. With the first series out of the way, the Padres will travel to Colorado for a three game series starting Friday, still hoping to get their first run of the year. If there is any place to get your first run, Colorado is the place. Try to stay positive Padres fans, there are a lot of games left in the season. The team will play better.
Editorial and Prospect Writer for East Village Times. Twenty-five years young, Patrick has lived in San Diego for his entire life and has been a Padres fan nearly as long. Patrick lives for baseball and is always looking to learn new things about the game he loves through advanced stats.