Padres suffer sweep at hands of Giants, lose fourth straight
Credit: Giants
Petco Park- San Diego, California
Once again, the San Francisco Giants snakebit the San Diego Padres. This time, the Padres were undone by a four-run sixth inning after Cal Quantrill was pulled after just 4 1/3 innings of three-run ball.
The Canadian right-hander was staked to an early lead thanks to two batters who have had their fair share of struggles at the plate.
After back-to-back singles by Franmil Reyes and Hunter Renfroe, Wil Myers drove home Reyes with a single to left field. For Myers, it was his first start since June 22 as he has ridden the bench more and more as he tries to work out of his prolonged hitting slump. Austin Hedges then drove home Renfroe on a pop-up single that barely evaded the glove of a diving Kevin Pillar. For Hedges, it was the first RBI since June 23 when he collected three against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
However, an old nemesis came back to haunt the Padres. Evan Longoria, who had an OPS of 1.180 with four home runs against San Diego pitching coming into today’s game, walloped a two-run home run off of Quantrill that left Petco Park at 106 MPH. Former Padre Alex Dickerson followed suit by mashing his third home run as a Giant to right-center field. It was the sixth and seventh home runs allowed by Quantrill this season.
Fernando Tatis Jr. provided some power of his own in the next inning. The rookie, days after somehow being spurned for both an All-Star spot and the National League Rookie of the Month award, took a hanging slider offered up by San Francisco starter Shaun Anderson to the upper deck in left field to tie the game up.
SOURCES: Fernando Tatis Jr. is pretty good at baseball 💣
The rookie's 12th blast of the year travels 4️⃣0️⃣6️⃣ feet and gives the Friars a 4-3 lead!#FriarFaithful | @Padres | @tatis_jr pic.twitter.com/obP4UwPt9t
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) July 4, 2019
After Quantrill was pulled in the fifth inning, the Giants almost tied the game off of Brad Wieck, but Luis Perdomo fetched a double-play to escape the inning. Luck wouldn’t be on his side in the sixth inning. After a confusing play that resulted in Pillar going to first base on a hit-by-pitch, San Francisco went on a tear, hitting back-to-back-to-back doubles and a single to push four runs across the plate. The inning was prolonged when Myers couldn’t track a fly ball hit by Pablo Sandoval and couldn’t make the catch, allowing another run to score.
Not even Renfroe’s 25th home run of the season could spark a rally as the Padres got swept by their NL West brethren and lost 7-5. It is their fourth straight loss, and the Padres have now dipped to two games below .500 on the season.
Dinelson Lamet makes his return to the mound to start his first game in fifteen months tomorrow as San Diego begins a four-game series against the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. Hyun-Jin Ryu will take the mound for the Dodgers.
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Green is the literal definition of insanity. He has kept pitchers in their same roles all year even though some of them have failed to perform in those roles. Why not get together with Balsley and switch up those roles here and there down in the minors to find the pitchers strengths before you pigeonhole them in their roles in the majors. When He pulled Quantrill for Wieck I told my friends that Wieck would walk the first batter and sure enough he walked the first two. We all know that Green doesn’t have enough options in the bullpen but to keep going to the same guys in the same situations night after night and seeing them fail is agonizing.
Are we starting to see more than a few disgruntled fans of AJ Preller? Admittedly, I have never been a fan of his. When the chance came to terminate him after he was found and suspended by MLB of cheating, I had hoped Seidler and Fowler would remove him then. Of course, they didn’t and he is still the GM of my favorite team. Now what? One thing that greatly worries me, should Preller be looking at OUR catching situation to see what needs to be done? Does he still think Mejia is the future savior and not Hedges? I don’t. What’s more important; a catcher who hits from time to time but is just adequate – at best on defense and handling pitchers OR a catcher who is highly respected, the #1 leader of the pitching staff, someone who plays great defense, calls a great game and counsels each pitcher he faces? If you understand my question and message, why the heck is Preller and the front office trying to diminish the role and value of one of the top players the Padres have? With all the new and young pitchers the Padres have, wouldn’t you think we’d need Austin Hedges working with these young men on a daily basis? BTW, if you tell me Hedges can’t hit, I’ll answer you with a question; how well would YOU hit if you knew your front office didn’t believe in you? That’s really tough on Hedges or anyone who constantly looks over his shoulder, knowing the team’s GM is not wild about you. Here’s the bottom line on AJ Preller; if you’re his guy; like Mejia, Myers, Reyes, Margot, etc., you get lots and lots of rope and opportunities. But if you were here before he arrived, good luck! You better produce fast and do it well; like Hunter Renfroe, who wasn’t supposed to be on this year’s team. Sad, isn’t it?
Remember when Buddy Black was unceremoniously and seemingly randomly fired after a loss to the Dodgers? How much worse is AG (and AJ)? Getting swept at home by a horrible team — which averaged 10 RUNS A GAME in the series — while the Padres have a much more talented team. How embarrassing.
Of course, Preller always intended to fire Black, it’s not uncommon for new GMs to want their own choice for manager. What is odd is that while the team is right in the hunt for a playoff spot (which is great) neither Preller or Green is taking the handling of the staff seriously. Starters and relievers are left in until they get hammered, and key relievers are overworked. There should be regular rotation of arms from the minors so that the bullpen is never exhausted. Green needs to have multiple options at key points in the game, and he needs to learn that the 3rd time through a lineup is the dangerous time for a starter.
What is fairly outrageous is that in the face of such serious lack of talent at handling a staff
Green’s contract is extended.
Another game blown when a pitcher is left in to give up 4 runs in a single inning. Even in Little League pitchers are pulled after 3 runs are pushed across.