Padres drop series finale in extras, 6-5
Credit: AP Photo
The San Diego Padres dropped a back-and-forth affair to the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5 in extra innings, to split the series.
After taking the lead in the top of the sixth inning, the league’s best bullpen had a chance to close it out and win the series.
Craig Stammen, who is a big part of the bullpen’s success this season, faced Willy Adames with two runners in scoring position in the seventh inning. With first base open, Stammen hung a 2-0 curveball, and Adames put it in the seats to steal the lead from San Diego.
Down but not out, the San Diego Padres responded with two runs in the top of the eighth off defending Rookie of the Year Award winner Devin Williams. Jurickson Profar worked a leadoff walk after nine pitches and stole second base before scoring on a Fernando Tatis Jr. single with one out.
After Eric Hosmer singled, Manny Machado came off the bench for the second straight game as he is still nursing a shoulder injury. Machado delivered a double in the gap to score Tatis Jr., but Hosmer was gunned after a perfect relay throw from Adames. Caratini flew out to the warning track to end the inning, which would have scored Hosmer had he been held at third.
Nando and Manny to tie it up 👯♂️#HungryForMore pic.twitter.com/x9Lqv3FOju
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 27, 2021
For the second night in a row, the Padres went to extra innings and begun the tenth inning with a runner on second base. With a 2-0 count, Jurickson Profar opted to swing the bat with no outs instead of bunting. He rocked a 99.8 MPH ground ball straight to Luis Urias, and so did Eric Hosmer as the Padres failed to score the run from second. The Brewers capitalized and drove in their run to win on a Jackie Bradley Jr. base hit to right field.
“We certainly made some mistakes out there,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “We had some opportunities. At the same time, we battled. We fought hard.”
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Ryan Weathers took the bump for San Diego Thursday. He pitched four scoreless innings while only allowing one hit and striking out five. After 78 pitches, Tingler pulled him as his spot in the lineup came to bat with two outs and Ha-Seong Kim on second base.
“We kind of had it laid out at 80-85 pitches,” Tingler said. “Hopefully next time out, if everything goes well, you’re probably looking at 90-95.”
21-year-old @Padres rookie Ryan Weathers lowers his ERA to 1.31 with four scoreless frames today. pic.twitter.com/bsW05NZrIt
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 27, 2021
Lastly, if you paid close attention to the lineups, Victor Caratini caught the day game after the night game, which is generally rare when you have two exceptional catchers like the padres do. Many speculated that Austin Nola might be dealing with something, and those speculations are correct. Tingler said that Nola was diagnosed with a “slight knee sprain” and will head to the injured list.
The padres will now travel to Houston to face the Astros in a three-game series. Dinelson Lamet will get the ball Friday against Framber Valdez. The first pitch will be at 5:10 PT.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”