Quantrill solid, offense comes alive in Padres 7-2 win
Credit: Padres
Petco Park- San Diego, California
On Wednesday, the San Diego Padres hosted the Tampa Bay Rays in the third and final game of a series.
The Padres were loking to avoid being swept after Tuesday’s close game. The Padres sent Cal Quantrill to the mound to start the 120th game of the season.
The first batter of the game was a tough one for Quantrill. Eric Sogard battled for 11 pitches until earning a walk. Tommy Pham took the very next pitch off the Western Metal Supply building. Quantrill settled down after, only giving up two additional hits and only one walk the rest of his outing. Ignoring the first two batters of the game, Quantrill had a dominant outing. “The way he fought, he deserves a ton of credit for that win,” Andy Green told the media after the game.
Working all four of his main pitches, the right-hander induced five ground balls and two fly balls. Quantrill was pulled with one out in the sixth inning after throwing 108 pitches for the Friars. The only negative on this start was the inability to finish the sixth inning, something that the Padres have struggled with all season. The way the Rays battled and stayed off of tough pitches had a lot to do with this. In the future, if he can consistently finish the sixth inning and more Cal Quantrill will lock up a spot in the 2020 rotation.
“He’s a bulldog on that mound. He’s going after guys. Never yields, never quits, keeps fighting, its been really good,” Manager Andy Green stated after the game.
The Padres were able to erase Quantrill‘s first inning mistake by scoring two runs in the bottom of the second. Back to back two out walks to Francisco Mejia and Luis Urias lead to Greg Garcia’s RBI single to right field. Cal Quantrill kept the two out rally going with his first ever major league base hit and RBI. It was not a pretty swing, but Quantrill was able to keep his hands back on a breaking pitch and barrel the ball through the hole on the right side.
The Padres added two more in the bottom of the fourth as Luis Urias stayed hot with a two-RBI double scoring Mejia and Hosmer.
In the fifth Eric Hosmer hit his 18th home run of the year making it 5-2 Padres. This one a solo shot and his first of the season off of a left-handed pitcher.
2018: 18 HR, 69 RBI
2019: 18 HR, 81 RBIHos = Hot ? #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/JB3rgdsN89
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 14, 2019
The Rays intentionally walked the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the seventh. After getting Mejia to strike out, Luis Urias was hit by a pitch to earn his third RBI the hard way. When interviewed after the game- “It feels good, I’ve been really working to help the team win,” Urias said. Manager Andy Green said this about Urias after the game- “It’s fun to watch him find his footing at the big league level.”
Wil Myers drove in Manuel Margot for more insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Padres relievers were outstanding today: 3 2/3 innings and zero runs were given up. In the top of the seventh, Matt Strahm did get into a little bit of trouble. After a single and hit batter, Luis Perdomo was called upon to get the final out of the inning via strikeout. Perdomo could carve himself out a high leverage role next season if these types of appearances continue. Kirby Yates closed out the game in a non save situation only allowing one hit.
The Padres had a couple of highlights on defense including a barehand by Manny Machado and a backhand stop by Urias, having to stop in his tracks when covering for a stolen base.
The Padres put it all together on the day. They avoid the sweep and improve to 56-64 on the year. Cal Quantrill earns the win to improve to 6-3 with a team-leading 3.23 ERA. After a day off, the Padres will start a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia. It will start a six-game road trip. Chris Paddack is expected to start Friday night.
Lifelong Padre fan born and raised in San Diego, currently living in Temecula. The editors make me sound smart.