Padres waste Bolanos strong debut, fall 2-1 to D-Backs
Credit: Padres
Chase Field- Phoenix, Arizona
After being eliminated from playoff contention yesterday, the San Diego Padres decided it was time to test out one of their lesser-known prospects in Ronald Bolanos.
In between two stops at Lake Elsinore and Amarillo, the number 15 prospect in the Padres system compiled a 13-7 record with a 3.66 record, but it was still a surprise to see him up in The Show.
The butterflies were flying around pretty quickly in Bolanos’ stomach, as he allowed two runs on two hits in the first inning. However, the 23-year-old settled in after that, as he pitched five more innings of shutout ball to keep the Padre in the game. He also got his first career strikeout, getting Jake Lamb to whiff at a 94 MPH fastball.
Unfortunately, the Padres offense couldn’t help out their young pitcher.
Facing Merrill Kelly, who hadn’t struck out more than five batters in any of his previous seven starts, the Friars struck out nine times while picking up only two walks. The San Diego hitters continued to display poor plate discipline and continue to whiff at remarkable rates, striking out 14 times while walking only four as a team.
Ronald Bolanos, the #Padres' No. 15 prospect, was solid in his #MLB debut:
6 IP
5 H
2 R (both came in 1st inning)
2 BB
4 K pic.twitter.com/SbcdcwVpus— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 4, 2019
The Padres bullpen kept the team in the game as the offense continued to forget how to hit. David Bednar struck out a batter but only got one out, but Matt Strahm bailed him out by not only escaping the inning but also getting two outs in the eighth inning. Craig Stammen got the last out in the eighth with a strikeout of Carson Kelly.
The Padres best chance to win came in the bottom of the ninth inning against Archie Bradley. A walk and a single brought Wil Myers to the plate with two outs, and the outfielder delivered with an RBI single. A walk of Greg Garcia brought Nick Martini up to the plate, but the newly-acquired outfielder struck out looking to end the threat.
The Padres will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow as they send Chris Paddack to the mound.
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Seems that is the way the Padres 2019 season went. Great pitching performance, no hitting. Score 7, the other team scores 14. Lousy defense messes up pitching. Great start, lousy pen. Starter gives up 5 in the first 2 innings, bullpen shuts them down but it is too late. Batters strike out 14 times a game. They lost their punch with the Reyes trade and Tatis injury. The prospects beside Tatis and Paddak struggle with the big club. They keep trading MLB players for prospects that are not MLB material. It may be the players or lack of development in the minors system. France nears 400 in the minors but 220 in the majors. Not sure what is going on with Renfroe and Myers, but it seems both are in major slumps. They seem to want a team with speed and no power. They had that with Travis, but are ignoring him.