Padres Series Recap: Friars Get Swept In Four-Game Series Against Cardinals
The San Diego Padres have just been swept in a four-game set against the St.Louis Cardinals. The Padres had just come off sweeping the San Francisco Giants so this is very disappointing. After soaring high the Padres really found a way to kill the fans spirits.
Four-game series sweeps are very uncommon. It is hard for any MLB team to stay consistent and beat the same opponent in four straight games. It is just incredible that the Cardinals manged to pull that off. It is also incredible how the Padres managed to lose all four games. We would also see a trend continue that we saw in the first series these teams battled earlier this year.
That trend would be bullpen issues. We would see some serious bullpen struggles in this series. In two games the bullpen would allow 11 earned runs. They would also be the reason why we would suffer the rare four game sweep. The pen would be at complete fault for losing the last game of the series. Something else that would really be lackluster in this series would be the offense. In the first three games of the series they would only score two runs in each game. Usually two runs isn’t enough to win a ballgame. As proved in this series. There were some positives here and there, but overall definitely a series to forget.
Game One: The Pen Made It Ugly
This would be a bad game for the Padres, but the bullpen just made it into something unwatchable. They truly made this loss into something gruesome. Christian Friedrich would be on the mound for the Padres. Overall he wouldn’t have a bad performance. He wouldn’t be spectacular, but he also wouldn’t be bad. The lefty would pitch five and a third and allow four runs, only three earned on the day. He definitely would not look in control though with five walks on the day. Still this would be a decent start against a solid team for our pitcher. His counterpart, Mike Leake would have a really nice day on the mound. The San Diego native would throw six strong innings in which he would only allow a run. Overall we would see a pretty nice pitching matchup on the day.
The Padres bullpen would come in and mess all that up. The bullpen would turn this game into a blowout. Carlos Villanueva, Jose Dominguez and Matt Thornton would make a turn for the worst. These three pitchers would allow more hits than Friedrich and would allow six runs to cross the pate. Offensively the Padres would also not do much. We would see seven hits on the day. Three would be doubles produced by Yangervis Solarte, Alexei Ramirez and Melvin Upton Jr. Another one of those hits would be a solo shot by Matt Kemp. Still this would only amount to two runs on the day. So we wouldn’t really see much production. This would be a horrible game for the Padres. It would really be one that would be really hard to watch. Even so, it would unfortunately not be the worst game of the series. Oh yeah there’s more where this came from.
Game Two: Tsunami Warning
Well game two of this series would be the first of a double-header on Wednesday. There would be some weather issues on Tuesday, that prevented this game from being played on its original date. Ironically enough the Padres would face a Tsunami on Wednesday. Colin Rea would be on the mound for the Friars. He would actually not look too bad on the mound. He would allow four runs on eight hits through six innings. Still he wouldn’t look bad on the mound. The important thing here is that he would at least eat up some innings. The bullpen would not get much action at all in this game. Jose Dominguez would be the only reliever to throw in this game for the Padres. Hew would actually look really sharp after his game one blunders. Dominguez would pitch two shutout innings in which he would only allow a hit. Definitely a step up on the outing we saw on Monday.
All of this would really turn out to be irrelevant. Despite a decent showing in pitching the Padres would need to face a Tsunami. They would need to face Carlos Martinez. Martinez would look great for the Red Birds. He would pitch seven solid innings. Only allowing two runs on four hits and walking only one batter. The lone Friar to get through Martinez would be Ryan Schimpf. He would blast a two run home run off “Little Pedro” in the very first inning of the game. After that “Tsunami” would be lights out against the Friars. Overall this would not be a bad game for the Padres. They would lose but they would lose against an up and coming elite pitcher. The offensive production really proved to be the issue here. Ryan Schmipf would be the only source of offense in the game. That of course is no way to create opportunity for yourself. Overall though, definitely not a frustrating lost to watch.
Game Three: Not Horrible (Part Two)
The second game of the double-header would also not be a bad game for the Padres. Overall maybe offensively we could have used a push. But in the end I feel that the Padres didn’t cheat us in this game. I really feel that they did the best they could. Paul Clemens would get the spot start in this one. Clemens would do solid work and would prove to be an option in these type of situations. He would pitch five innings and only allow three earned runs. Unfortunately those three runs would come off two home runs. But still not a bad start by Clemens. He would also only walk two batters in the game. The bullpen would also do their job in this game. Kevin Quackenbush and Ryan Buchter would provide three scoreless innings for the squad.
The Cardinals would also have a nice day pitching wise. Their starter, Jaime Garcia would look really sharp in this one. Garcia would go five and two-thirds and only allow one earned run. He would also showcase that great control he has as he would only walk two batters. The bullpen would also shut it down for the Cards. They would allow a run, but five different pitchers would come in after Garcia to secure the game. Offensively the Padres wouldn’t have a bad day. Even though we would only see two runs on the day. I feel like the Padres would really try their best in this game. They would manage to get seven hits which would be the same as the Cardinals. Unfortunately their only source of offense would only come from two players. Matt Kemp and Ryan Schmipf would each blast a solo shot in this game. As the only source of offense for the Padres in this game. Overall Schimpf would have a nice day as he would blast two home runs in the course of the double-header. Though this wouldn’t be a bad game for the Padres. This definitely wasn’t the end result which we wanted. But it wasn’t a bad showing by the team.
Game Four: The Harsh Reality
Game four of this series was the worst game of the series for the Padres. This was the most frustrating Padres game I had seen in quite some time. Not even Monday’s catastrophe compared to this. The game would really start out awesome for the Padres. The first seven and a half innings of the game would be an absolute joy to watch. For starters, our starter Andrew Cashner would be on point. Cashner would look really impressive after that start against the Giants. He would go five and two-thirds in this one and would only allow a run on three hits. To add to it he would also show complete control as he would allow no walks and strike out eight. Cashner just seems to be a different man since the All-Star break. This game definitely had to boost his trade value. There was already interest in Cashner, this game certainly increased that interest. Another positive through the first seven and a half was the Padres offense. The Friars would really pick up the bats in this one. They would lead 5-1 up until the bottom of the eight. The offense would be nice as it would come from some unlikely sources. Alexei Razmirez would put in a shift as he would drive in a couple on the day. Travis Jankowski and Alex Dickerson would also drive in a run each. Then Yangervis Solarte would pop a solo shot in the top half of the eighth. That solo shot would seem like the cherry on top at the time. It would just seem like the overkill, that special touch to make the game perfect.
Well It wouldn’t quite work out that way. The bottom of the eighth would come. The nightmare would now begin. The harsh reality of this season would kick in. Like a splash of cold water, when everything seemed right. Ironically enough former Friar Jedd Gyorko would start it off. Ryan Buchter would have a complete meltdown on the mound. He would first allow an RBI single to Jedd Gyorko. That would make it a 5-2 game. Then everything would make a turn for the worst. Stephen Piscotty would bag himself a three run jack to tie up the game at five. This seemed like a secure win. But of course it wouldn’t turn out tot be that way. The scene would really turn even grimmer. In the bottom of the ninth Carlos Villanueva would be on the mound. Well he would end up blowing the game. Aledmys Diaz would come up clutch for the Birds. He would deliver the final blow via an RBI single to end the game. That would give the Cards the improbable four game sweep. Nobody gets four game sweeps. It almost seemed impossible to happen. But against all odds they manged to get it. Against all odds the Padres also managed to blow this game late into it. This game was just atrocious. I mean we saw a strong game through most of it. The ending just made everything irrelevant. Onto the Nationals series we go.
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.