Padres Series Recap: Richard Helps Friars Prevent Sweep in Ugly Series
The Padres came into this home series looking to bounce back from an ugly and harsh road trip.
They managed to grab only two wins in the seven game home stand; the opening game and the closing game. The continued slump knocked the Friars into the cellar of the N.L. West, as they now stand at 16-30. Prior to this home stand, our Boys were 14-25.
Game 1 – Padres 1, D-backs 10
For possibly the last time in his career, Jered Weaver climbed the mound at Petco Park in hopes that the successes of his last performance would roll over. He was pulled in the first inning after giving up two home runs and seven total earned runs in just 0.2 innings.
Jake Lamb started the party for the Diamondbacks, launching a three-run home run into the stands with one out in the first inning. Brandon Drury turned the volume up, knocking a two-run home run out of the park to bring the lead up to 5-0. With two outs, pitcher Taijuan Walker came to the plate and drove in Chris Owings, which brought Andy Green out of the dugout to pull Jered Weaver, who was booed off the mound, and out of the game.
Miguel Diaz would come in to relieve Weaver and finish off the inning, but not before giving up a single to David Peralta that would bring Walker home. Jake Lamb stepped up to the plate for his second appearance in the inning. He drew a bases loaded walk to score Gregor Blanco and make it 8-0 at the end of the first.
The Padres’ bullpen would pitch rather well the rest of the game, only giving up two more runs. David Peralta and Jake Lamb (second on the night) went on to crush solo homers in the 6th to close the books on D-backs scoring and drive the lead up to 10-0. The Padres would finally get on the board when Ryan Schimpf hit a soft grounder to bring in Allen Cordoba in the ninth.
The Padres needed five guys to come out and clean up Jered Weaver’s mess. One of them, back up shortstop Luis Sardinas, who came in and pitched a scoreless inning, allowing just one hit.
Game 2 – Padres 1, D-backs 9
Luis Perdomo took the mound Saturday night, looking to bounce the Padres back after Friday night. It did not go too well for former Rule-5 draft pick. He gave up five runs in the first inning and two more in the second to give the Snakes an early 7-0 lead. In the preview, I predicted that Luis Perdomo would be looking for his first decision of the season going into his seventh start.
A single by Paul Goldschmidt and a double by Jake Lamb would be good for three early D-back runs. Chris Herman would hit a two-run home run to put the Diamondbacks up 5-0 before the end of the first.
In the second inning, Yasmani Tomas would single into left field to score Goldy and Peralta to put the Snakes up 7-0. Perdomo pitched a scoreless third and things were starting to look a little up for the Padres. However, in the fourth, Perdomo gave up one more run and was pulled without recording an out to close the books on him. He ended with 3.0 innings pitched, eight earned runs, and two strikeouts; he was also tagged with the loss.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the ninth when Allen Cordoba would ground to short with the bases loaded to score Hunter Renfroe from third and close the books on scoring. 9-1.
Game 3 – Padres 5, D-backs 1
Clayton Richard, the savior of the sweep. After coming off an abysmal performance his last time out, I predicted that Richard would come out and impress. And impress is what he did. After the bullpen got taxed the first two games, the Padres desperately needed the veteran to go deep into this game. He finished the complete game, five hit, one run, and added a win to his skewed record (now 3-5).
The only run allowed by Richard was a solo home run in the top of the third, knocked out of the park by Chris Iannetta.
In the bottom of the fifth, Ryan Schimpf tattooed a solo home run to right field to tie the game. Austin Hedges singled to center field where Gregor Blanco would pick up an error and Hunter Renfroe would find himself crossing home plate and giving the Padres their first lead of the series. The Padres didn’t look back after taking the lead. Richard helped himself out, singling to right field to bring Hedges in from third and extend the lead 3-1.
Hunter Renfroe hit one softly back to the pitcher to bring Allen Cordoba to the plate and Cory Spangenberg hit a sacrifice fly to score Wil Myers in the bottom of the 8th.
Run Down
Padres starters struggled greatly the first two games of this series. However, the bullpen would come in early both games and only allow a total of four runs in 14.1 innings of relief. Clayton Richard gave the bullpen arms a break, pitching a complete game and picking up the only win of the series for the Padres.
Next Up
The Padres will fly to New York and take on the Mets for the first stop of their six-game road trip. After that, they take a flight to DC to take on Bryce Harper and the Nationals. The Padres have been finding some interesting ways to lose since the beginning of this 180 degree, downhill avalanche of losses that they find themselves on. Hopefully, heading into the Big Apple, the Padres can put some games together and pick up a couple wins before taking on the streaky Nationals.
Derek is a 22-year-old out of Lemon Grove, California. A burning passion for San Diego sports led him to pursue an opportunity to write and share about what’s going on with the teams in America’s Finest City. A young and aspiring sports journalist looking to grow his knowledge and expand his experience at any opportunity.