Padres’ offense continues struggles, lose in 10 to STL
Credit: AP Photo
The usual problem plagued the San Diego Padres, who couldn’t get anywhere near enough support from their offense in an extra-innings loss. The Padres lost the first two games of the series with the Cardinals, putting them at risk of being swept for the first time this season.
Snell had struggled with control in his first two outings, and while walks were a problem, he managed to control the damage.
In the first inning, the Cardinals put runners on the corner with just one out. Snell responded with back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the early jam. St. Louis did get to Snell in the third after he struggled with control throughout the inning. He got two strikes on both Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado but ended up putting both of them on base. Paul Goldschmidt doubled home Donovan before Albert Pujols’ sacrifice fly gave the Cardinals a two-run lead. After his trouble in the third, Snell was fantastic. He struck out the side in the fourth before setting down all three batters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings. He finished his day by retiring each of the final ten batters he faced. It was not a perfect day for the 2018 Cy Young winner, but he demonstrated a major step forward from his previous outings.
The Padres’ performances at the plate were dismal, as Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright completely baffled the Padres hitters. Wainwright surrendered just two hits, both of which were singles from Luke Voit. Wainwright also walked Ha-Seong Kim in the second inning, the only other base-runner the Padres had during his time on the mound. Between Kim’s second-inning walk and Voit’s seventh-inning single, Wainwright retired 14 consecutive Padres batters.
Manny Machado was ejected from the game after striking out looking in the sixth. He argued the call with home plate umpire Chris Segal, which eventually led to manager Bob Melvin being ejected in Machado’s defense. Bench coach Ryan Christenson took over for the remaining innings of the game.
Once Wainwright was lifted from the game, the Padres bats immediately awoke. Jorge Alfaro roped a 103.6 mile per hour double off Giovanny Gallegos. On a 2-2 fastball, Trent Grisham smacked a 104.9 mile per hour ball over the right-center field wall. After sputtering and stammering for seven dismal innings, the game was tied.
Craig Stammen worked around a pair of singles in the seventh, but with the game tied, Luis Garcia came in for the eighth. Garcia got two quick outs but found himself in trouble after back-to-back singles. On a crucial 3-2 pitch, Garcia got out of the jam by including a groundout from Lars Nootbaar. The Padres had just five chances with runners in scoring position. The Cardinals had nine. However, the Padres pitchers came up clutch, as they allowed just one hit when the Cardinals had runners in scoring position.
The Padres stranded Jake Cronenworth, who led off the ninth inning with a walk. Voit and Wil Myers both flew out before Robinson Cano grounded out to end the frame. Robert Suarez came in to try and force extra innings. Suarez has been shaky for much of the season, and he worked his way around a one-out double. Suarez was not at his best, but he got the job done, forcing the tenth inning.
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In the tenth inning, the Padres played poor fundamental baseball, as Ha-Seong Kim popped out before Jorge Alfaro struck out. Trent Grisham picked up a two-out walk before Jurickson Profar slapped a single into shallow left field. Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbar fired a strike to home plate, throwing out José Azocar to keep the game tied. The stellar Taylor Rogers worked the tenth inning, needing to keep the game tied to force the eleventh. After an intentional walk to Paul Goldschmidt, Rogers induced a crucial foul-out from Nolan Arenado. However, Tommy Edman, who started the inning on second base, stole third. Edman then scored the winning run on Albert Pujols’ sacrifice fly.
San Diego lost consecutive games for the fourth time this season. They’re yet to lose three straight this season.
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.