Padres squander solid start from Darvish
Credit: AP Photo
There’s only so far that good pitching can carry you.
The San Diego Padres anemic offense struggled for the second straight day, scoring just one (unearned) run. Yu Darvish put together another strong start, working 6.2 innings, and was tagged for just two runs. Robert Suarez pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings, but the Padres couldn’t scrap across the tying run.
Darvish was spectacular over his first six innings, as he surrendered just one hit. The Brewers were unable to threaten Darvishm initially, as they produced just one at-bat with a runner in scoring position. However, the Brewers got a handle on Darvish, scoring a pair of runs in the seventh.
Former Padre Luis Urias led off the frame with a walk. Christian Yelich flew out before Andrew McCutchen moved Urias to third with a 101.5 mile per hour single. Rowdy Tellez laced a double just inside the left field line to tie the game. Tellez’s double had just a 9% hit probability, but it set up Tyrone Taylor to put the Brewers in front after a sacrifice fly. It was a tough loss for Darvish, who was spectacular for most of his outing but watched a win slip away in his final frame. He did strike out seven batters, walking just two.
After Darvish’s inning, Bob Melvin turned to Robert Suarez out of the bullpen. Suarez was inconsistent but recorded four outs to keep the deficit at just one. He walked two batters but struck out two as well. Catcher Austin Nola gunned down Kolten Wong to end the eighth inning, helping to get Suarez out of trouble. He showed flashes of dominance, but his issues with control continued to persist.
The Padres picked up just five hits at the plate, as Aaron Ashby effectively contained the Friars. Ashby, who is the nephew of former Padre Andy Ashby, allowed just one run, which was unearned, in the fifth. Austin Nola scored the run after leading off the frame with a walk. He moved to second on Jake Cronenworth’s single. The Padres loaded the bases when Manny Machado reached on fellow third baseman Jace Peterson’s error. Jurickson Profar grounded into a fielder’s choice but beat out the double play ball to score the run. The Brewers made a pair of fantastic plays to steal hits from the Padres in the seventh, helping to strand Trent Grisham, who led off the inning with a pinch-hit single.
The Padres went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, missing multiple opportunities to add on. Former Padre Luis Perdomo picked up the win after working 1.1 scoreless innings.
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It was a frustrating game for the Padres. After a fantastic 7-2 road trip, they faltered, losing the first series of the homestand. San Diego hadn’t lost consecutive games since April 15 and 16, and they scored just five times in 28 innings against Milwaukee.
They got solid outings from Nick Martinez, Blake Snell, and Yu Darvish. The trio allowed seven runs in 17 innings, and the bullpen was spotless over 11 innings. It didn’t matter, as the Padres offense just could not produce throughout the series.
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.
The poor offense is starting to cause really good starting pitching to take losses, or no-decisions , when those outings should result in W’s…They would never say it publicly, but that has got to be very frustrating for the starters…Darvish was lights out Tuesday, and had to take the loss…
How long will this continue, ? , until clubhouse harmony goes south…?
Are you listening, AJ….??
I think it is frustrating, but it’s because the TEAM is losing. Starters (and front offices) don’t really care about personal W-L records for starters, as they aren’t a real representation of their skill set. Losing sucks, and I’m sure that it irritates the entire team, but I trust Melvin to keep the clubhouse stable. The bats will come together as Tatis comes back + adding an outfield bat. Preller will make moves as the deadline moves closer, he understands this year is make or break.