Offense, bullpen struggle in Padres 2-1 loss to Reds
Credit: USA Today Sports
The San Diego Padres missed a golden opportunity to win their fourth game in a row on Tuesday night, dropping a tough game to the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 in 10 innings.
Padres’ starter Michael Wacha was excellent for San Diego, going six shutout innings while allowing only two hits and two walks. Wacha left the game with 1-0 lead after Juan Soto doubled home Manny Machado in the third inning.
Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Padres would get, as the Reds’ starter, Graham Ashcraft, went six innings of his own, allowing just the single run. For the season, Ashcraft now has six starts in which he has allowed two runs or less, so the Padres ran into a hot pitcher.
“We got him out of the game with a lead; it’s tough to win only scoring a run,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said after the game when speaking about Cincinnati’s Ashcraft.
San Diego would hold the 1-0 lead heading in to the top of the eighth inning, but Nick Martinez could not hold the lead and gave up an RBI single to allow the Reds to tie the game at one, eliminating Wacha from a chance at a win.
The game would go in to extra innings, where Luis Garcia allowed the Reds to score the go-ahead run on the first pitch of the 10th inning. While Garcia was able to escape without allowing another run, the damage was done.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Padres set themselves up in prime position, with Trent Grisham drawing a walk to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Cincinnati would go on to close out the Padres’ most feared hitters all in a row. First, a strikeout of Fernando Tatis Jr, then a flyout from Machado, followed by a strikeout of Soto to close out the game.
“Came down to a couple big hits; they got one more than we did,” said Melvin after the game when speaking about the tough finish.
Though the Padres lost a heartbreaker of a game on Tuesday, they still have a chance to win the series against the Reds if they are able to win tomorrow afternoon, with Seth Lugo taking the mound for San Diego.
Kevin is a San Diego Native covering the San Diego Padres and their affiliates