King & Profar lead Padres to victory over Giants 4-0
Credit: Padres
This game had a very familiar look to Padre fans this year: a great pitching performance combined with minimal hitting and offense.
There were four total hits, three of which came in the first inning, and no ability to get runners into scoring position, let alone leave them on base.
Tonight, however, it didn’t matter.
Xander Bogaerts started the first inning with a single before two quick outs. However, a single by Manny Machado and a walk by Ha-Seong Kim loaded the bases. For a team that has struggled for the past two years to cash in on such situations, this was a great opportunity especially coming off yesterday’s game.
But with one swing of the bat in the first inning, Jurickson Profar gave the Padres all the offense they’d need for the game.
Profar has hit .273 to start the season, more in line with his successes in brown and gold from 2021-2022 than his time in the black and purple of Colorado. He’s provided solid production and plus defense in left field at the start of the season, even as he has been lifted for Jose Azocar late as a defensive replacement.
After Profar’s grand slam, the Padres could only muster two additional hits.
Starting pitcher Michael King put two bad starts behind him and flashed what made him so coveted in the Soto deal. In seven innings, King struck out four, gave up four hits, and issued a walk. Despite initial struggles, the Padres’ big four have turned in consecutive starts of at least six innings with no more than three runs given up.
After King, the ball was handed off to Tom Cosgrove, who continued to put his previous disastrous appearance behind him. He gave up a hit before getting two outs, with Jackson Merrill‘s amazing diving catch assisting in that. Cosgrove then handed the ball to Stephen Kolek, who got the final out of the inning. Finally, in the 9th, Robert Suarez locked it down for the save.
Giants pitcher Keaton Winn recovered well from the grand slam to shut down the Padres for the remaining five innings. With few exceptions, the Giants offense was unable to muster more than a single hit per inning and had two baserunners on at the same time only twice.
A Native San Diegan, Loren has spent his entire life not only as a fan but an active participant in San Diego’s sports world. In 2006 Loren joined two other die hard Charger fans to create Bolttalk, where Loren was a co-host and regular columnist from 2006 until the Chargers left in 2017. After that he started another podcast, The Grid Podshow, from 2020-2021 with his former co-host and colleague, speaking about the local sports community and popular culture.
When he’s not giving his opinion about San Diego sports, Loren is an adjunct professor at San Diego State and an attorney.