Framing the Friars: Solarte and Kids Slug in 5th Straight Win
If you looked at the box score, you’d think this game was played in Denver, Colorado.
There were 27 combined hits, three of them made it over the fence (all three Padres), and seven total extra base hits.
The game started off a little rocky for Clayton Richard, who took the mound looking to continue the Padres’ success. He allowed four hits in the second innings, including a Ryan Schimpf error to allow the Rockies to ride up the score early (3-0), although the Padres answered back that same inning. Chase d’Arnaud singled and stole second base to allow an Allen Cordoba single to bring him around to score.
Allen Cordoba also hit a loud sac fly to right field with the bases loaded. He went on to finish the game with two RBI, a run, and three hits in four plate appearances.
Cordoba now leads all Padre regular players with a .310 batting average this season. However, we got to see how raw Cordoba still is.
He overplayed a ball off the center field wall, forcing him to chase after it to retrieve it. He also tried to palm a ball that was hit into left field and missed it on the first grab. A couple of easy mistakes, but nonetheless some good opportunities for him to learn just how to play in Petco Park, somewhere we hope he’ll continue to hit above .300 for long time.
Future gold-glove catcher, Austin Hedges, flashed some speed, throwing out Tony Wolters, who was attempting to steal third. With Hedges making ferocious plays behind the plate, and Hunter Renfroe throwing over 100 MPH from right field to home plate, hopefully opposing teams will start to get the memo that you don’t run on the Padres.
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The play was challenged by the Rockies, but surprisingly enough, the video umpire crew in New York upheld the out. It’s not very common when those guys get something right.
The bottom half of the inning was also exciting for Hedges, but first Franchy Cordero got in on the action with a single up the middle that crushed Rockies starter German Marquez‘s hand. That single brought home Schimpf, who had made his way from second base. After a small injury delay to nurse Marquez’s hand, Hedges stepped to the plate and cranked an 0-1 pitch to deep left center to tie the ballgame up.
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The pitch he crushed was a 93 MPH four-seam fastball high and inside. The ball left his bat at 101 MPH. The ball traveled 396 feet at a 28 degree launch angle to give Hedges his 10th home run of the season. According to A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com, Hedges reached 10 home runs faster than any other catcher in Padres history (10 HR in 56 games).
Yangervis Solarte cranked another two-run jack in the following inning to give the Padres their first lead of the game. He finished 3-5 on the night with two RBI, to move his count to 16-38 (.421 average) since being moved to the second spot on the lineup.
Franchy Cordero finished 2-4 on the night to move his average to .350 since being given a chance to replace the injured Manuel Margot. He is impressing many with his 10 total bases and five runs in 20 at-bats for the Friars.
Wil Myers couldn’t miss out on the action either. He finished 1-4 on the night. His one hit was a monster home run (his 12th on the season) behind left field to put the Padres up 8-5 in the bottom of the 7th inning.
Clayton Richard got the win on the night as he went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and striking out three. The bullpen came in behind him with a solid outing and allowed just one run (Brad Hand) and struck out seven in 3 1/3 innings .
Brandon Maurer earned his 9th save on the season, sitting down three straight batters after giving up a leadoff walk to Nolan Arenado.
A fun and exciting game to watch, the Padres youth continued to show exactly what they can be capable off once all the growing pains are worked out. With the first wave of talent continuing to crash down on the Padres opponents, purchasers of the 5Win pass have just marked themselves the first win of June which means only four more Friar wins until the pass expires!
Derek is a 22-year-old out of Lemon Grove, California. A burning passion for San Diego sports led him to pursue an opportunity to write and share about what’s going on with the teams in America’s Finest City. A young and aspiring sports journalist looking to grow his knowledge and expand his experience at any opportunity.