Offense Struggles, Diamondbacks Walk Off Padres 3-2
Credit: The Canadian Press
The San Diego Padres lost their third straight game after being blown out twice in a row. Dalton Varsho’s walk-off home run ended Friday’s 3-2 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Padres bats, which have produced just five runs in their last 29 innings of work, were unable to produce enough to beat a scrappy Diamondbacks team.
Blake Snell, who’s been pitching well of late, threw five solid innings of two-run ball, scattering six hits and two walks across the five frames. Snell allowed a two-out RBI single in the second inning to Varsho, before Ketel Marte crushed a hanging curveball into the left-field bleachers to double the Diamondbacks’ advantage. Snell retired the final two batters of the fifth, ending his outing. Snell needs to step up, especially with Yu Darvish out with injuries, and while his performance was fine, there was not anything spectacular about his play.
Bumgarner pitched very well, allowing just five hits in his first six frames of work and not allowing any Padres to cross the plate. Bumgarner’s performances have been up and down this season, but he put together one of his better outings against the Padres.
“He’s been good. He’s made an adjustment…The runs have been really tough to come by,” manager Jayce Tingler said after the game of Bumgarner’s performance.
The Padres’ only runs of the night came in the seventh inning, when Wil Myers homered off a first-pitch curveball, scoring Eric Hosmer in the process. The Padres put two more runners on base for superstar Manny Machado, but he struck out. It was the penultimate at-bat the Padres received with a runner in scoring position.
Wil Myers wakes up the @Padres offense with this 2-run blast 💥 We have a tie ballgame!@wilmyers | #HungryForMore pic.twitter.com/EJHDmKJyBJ
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) August 14, 2021
The Padres bullpen, which worked 6.1 innings on Thursday night, pitched relatively well. Pierce Johnson, who is in the midst of a career-best season, worked his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam. Johnson struck out opposing pitcher Bumgarner before inducing a flyout from Nick Ahmed.
After the Padres tied the game in the seventh, Daniel Hudson got to make his second appearance in a Padres uniform. Hudson, who didn’t retire any of the four batters he faced in his Padres debut on Wednesday, struck out a pair and didn’t allow a base runner in his lone frame of work. With the injury to Drew Pomeranz and struggling starting pitching, the Padres will need Hudson to step up. Emilio Pagan worked an easy eighth, sitting down all three Diamondbacks batters. Pagan’s ERA is 2.87 since June 27, and he’s had just two outings where he’s allowed runs in his last 16 games.
With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, manager Jayce Tingler made the decision to save closer Mark Melancon for extra innings, choosing to go with Craig Stammen, who is slated to get the nod to start Sunday’s game.
“Yeah, he’ll probably start (on Sunday).”
Stammen threw two tough innings on Tuesday night, acting as the opener for a bullpen day. He allowed four runs across those two frames, and it didn’t get any better for the veteran in his outing on Friday. While in a 3-2 count to leadoff batter Daulton Varsho, he hung a knuckle curveball, which Varsho deposited into the right-field seats. The run meant that Stammen had allowed seven earned runs in his last four outings, which is disappointing for him, as he was in the midst of his best season for the Padres.
Joe Musgrove will go to the mound on Saturday as the Padres look to try and get back into the win column for the first time since Tuesday. The Padres continue to struggle on both the road and against bottom-feeding teams, ailments that are costing the Padres in the playoff race.
Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.