Padres Series Recap: Padres Take Three of Four From Reds
Well the San Diego Padres have yet again failed to take that elusive series sweep. However the Padres did have a very nice series in Cincinnati. There are several things to look at in this series. The Padres have really shown their true offensive potential within the last week or so. The Friars have also demonstrated their superiority over a really bad team like the Reds. They showed us in this series that there really are not your average last place team. The pitching in this series was also pretty decent for the Padres, in all four games. Overall this really was a great series for the Padres. There were several overwhelmingly positive factors which definitely out shined all the small flaws.
Game 1: The Comeback
The first game of the series was a great overall performance for the Friars. The Padres would start things off in the second inning. Alexei Ramirez would have a rough day at the plate going 0-4. But he would get an RBI in the second inning via a ground out. The Padres would take the early lead, 1-0. The Reds would then take their strike on Christian Friedrich in the third inning. The Reds would manage to score four runs in the third inning. Adam Duvall would play a big part with a two run blast. Matt Kemp would bring back a run in the fourth inning with a solo shot himself. Kemp would continue his hot streak for the Friars. The game would then stay quiet with a 4-2 score for a while.
The Padres would then start their comeback in the sixth inning. John Lamb had been pitching a solid game thus far. Things would get a little complicated for him, however in this inning. Yangervis Solarte would start it off with an RBI single. John Lamb would leave the game after a solid five and a third innings of work. J.C.Ramirez would come into the game with Solarte on first. Melvin Upton Jr. would the continue the action with another single. Derek Norris would then come up to the plate. Norris would change the score dramatically in the Padres favor. Norris would bag himself a line-drive three-run blast to make it a 6-4 game. The Reds bullpen struggles would continue to haunt them. The game would remain the same until the ninth. The Padres bullpen would be solid with three shutout frames from Brad Hand, Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter. Travis Jankowski would then solidify the Padres lead with an RBI single to drive in Adam Rosales. The Padres would be up 7-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Fernando Rodney would of course be lights out once again and he would shoot that arrow. Rodney would get his 16th save of the year to close out the game for the Pads. Overall a great game for the Padres. The offense really came through to come back from a three-run deficit. The bullpen would also hold the lead very nicely. The only minor flaw here would be Christian Friedrich. Friedrich would not put in a quality start this time around.
Game 2: The Blowout
The Padres would deliver a blowout in this one rather than a comeback. The Padres offense would explode in this game. They would end up winning the game by a score of 13-4. The main performers of the day offensively would be Wil Myers and Melvin Upton Jr. They would combine for nine total RBI in the game. Myers would get himself a career-high five on the day including a solo home run in the first inning. Melvin would get himself four on the day with a two-run blast. The only other Friar to homer on the day would be Adam Rosales. He would deliver a solo shot in the sixth inning off of Raisel Iglesias. The Padres would be very clinical against rookie, Cody Reed. They would get five runs on the day off of Reed. The Padres would be even more clinical on the Reds struggling bullpen. The Friars would get eight runs on the Reds pen. In terms of pitching, the Padres would also have a nice day. Colin Rea would deliver a nice start, just shy of a quality start. Rea would throw five innings and give up three earned runs. Unlike the Reds, the Padres bullpen would be flawless. The pen would throw four shutout innings and would only allow a single hit. This would be another excellent showing for the Friars. They would show complete dominance over the Reds. The Padres would yet again prove that they are a step up from the Cincinnati Reds currently.
Game 3: The Shutout
The Padres would do pretty much everything in this series. A comeback in game one. A blowout in game two. Then came the shutout in game three of the series. The shutout was something that could have easily been foreseen. Our ace, Drew Pomeranz would be on the mound on Saturday. Drew would throw an absolute gem. He would throw seven strong shutout innings. He would only allow three hits and one walk. Pomeranz would have one of the better starts of his season. The big lefty would also come up clutch at the plate. In the top of the fifth inning, Pomeranz would blast a solo shot off his counterpart Brandon Finnegan. The blast would be the second run of the game for the Pads. The first would come via Matt Kemp in the first inning. The third run of the game would also come from… Drew Pomeranz. Yes, amazingly enough the lefty would throw a gem, and provide two out of the three runs of the game for the Padres. The Padres set-up man/closer combo would then again be lights out. Ryan Buchter and Fernando Rodney would close up the game. The Padres would win by a score of 3-0. Drew Pomeranz would just be stunning in this game. He would almost single-handedly defeat the Reds. He would not quite pull off a “Clayton Kershaw” but would come real close. Pomeranz yet again proved just how valuable he can be to the organization. The Padres would officially take the series in this one and prove their dominance once again.
Game 4: Not The Sweep
The Padres would yet again not achieve that elusive sweep. The sweep. Ah the sweep. It’s just incredible to think that the Padres have still not achieved one this season. They sure have been close on multiple occasion. Well Sunday would mark another one of those occasions. The Padres would unfortunately be shutout and dominated in this one. As predicted in the preview to this series Anthony DeSclafani would prove to be a danger to the Padres. DeSclafani would have perhaps what has been his best start of his young career. He would throw eight shutout innings get five punchouts and not allow a single walk. Luis Perdomo would also have a nice day on the mound for the Padres. Perdomo is developing heavily now. Perdomo would throw a very nice quality start. He would throw six innings and only allow three runs to cross the plate. Perdomo has really been shaping up nicely. He has shown great progression in this season. He is perhaps the most effective pitcher ever with an ERA over eight. Perdomo really has impressed as of late and shown his true value to the team.
In terms of offense we really wouldn’t see much of it in this game. Jay Bruce would bag himself a home run off of Perdomo. The Padres hitters would really fail in this one. Not one player would achieve over a single hit in this game. They would only manage to get five hits in total. The Padres offense would really fall in game three and four of the series. I mean they were shutout game four. In game three the offensive star would be, Drew Pomeranz. I mean they showed just how inconsistent they can be right there. Overall though the offense is in a good spot right now. Before Saturday’s game they had managed to score at least five runs in eight of their last nine games. Overall this game would really not dampen the mood on the series in general. In fact it would still be quite a nice game due to Luis Perdomo’s performance. This would be a phenomenal series overall for the Padres. We would see great offensive and pitching performances within the series. Definitely one to remember.
Storyline
Wil Myers Struggles away from Petco Park
Wil Myers home/away splits this season are really something quite shocking. Myers had a really solid game on Friday night, but that’s really all he would do in this series, literally. Myers go 3-5 with five RBI on Friday. But how about the other three games. Well Myers would literally not do anything. Myers would go 0-9 in the other three games. This really is not good. Especially considering that this series was played at Great American Ballpark. A traditionally very good park for hitters. With this performance Myers is down to hitting .218 away from Petco Park. Opposing to that Myers is hitting an astonishing .337 at home. Myers also has almost double the amount of home runs at home than on the road. Myers has hit 11 at home while only hitting six on the road. This really is more fascinating than worrying. It’s just amazing how someone has been able to transform Petco Park into their own “Hitting Fortress”. There couldn’t be a better ambassador for the 2016 All Star Game. Anybody who can dominate Petco Park like that, totally deserves the role.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.