Renfroe’s homer not enough as Padres fall to Giants in series finale
Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Petco Park- San Diego, California
Hunter Renfroe hit a three-run shot off Madison Bumgarner, but the San Diego Padres bullpen couldn’t hold the lead in a 7-6 loss on July 28 at Petco Park.
Adrian Morejon made his second career start for the Padres, serving as an “opener” during a bullpen day for the Padres. Morejon pitched one-and-two-thirds innings, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks. He finished with two strikeouts.
Morejon pitched a scoreless first but ran into trouble in the second. After giving up a walk to Zach Green, Morejon gave up back-to-back doubles to Brandon Crawford and Mike Yastrzemski. The Yastrzemski double drove in both Green and Crawford, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
Renfroe had four RBIs as part of a 1-for-4 day. He drove in Manuel Margot with a sacrifice fly to left to give the Padres a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. His home run came in the bottom of the third.
The first pitch from Bumgarner during that at-bat was an 88 mph cutter. He left it over the inside part of the plate, and Renfroe deposited the pitch over the fence in left-center. The home run was estimated at 444 feet, leaving the bat at 109 mph. The launch angle was measured at 26 degrees. It was Renfroe’s second home run over his last 15 games and his 28th home run of the season.
HUNTER RENFROE MASHES BASEBALLS 💣💣💣
His 29th blast of the year travels 4️⃣4️⃣4️⃣ feet!#FriarFaithful | @Padres pic.twitter.com/XTN6t3LJES
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) July 28, 2019
That was the only offense from the Padres for most of the game. Wil Myers hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth to make the score 7-6. To say that Myers is struggling would be a giant understatement. He’s hitting .215/.313/.394 to this point. However, he showed sign of life in this three-game series against San Francisco, having an RBI-double on Saturday and his home run today.
However, the recurring story this season has been the Padres bullpen. Luis Perdomo relieved Morejon and gave up three runs. Robbie Erlin entered the game, his first action since re-joining the team, and also gave up three runs. The Padres have lost 11 of 15 games since the All-Star break.
San Diego will close out the month of July with a two-game series at Petco Park against the Baltimore Orioles. This is the second leg of a four-game split series between the two teams.
Chris Paddack takes the mound for the Padres. The starter for Baltimore is to be determined.
Mike is the sports editor for the Fayette Advertiser, and has been with East Village Times since 2015. His work has appeared on Bleacher Report. He is an avid Padres fan who is keeping the faith and trusting the process.
So, can we give up the whole “opener” thing, especially with Morejon? (as if this year could not get worse)
Are we giving up on Lauer, at least as a starter? Is AG trying to find ways to mismanage his pitchers even more?
They were winning one-run games the first month or so, but they seem to lose the vast majority of them now. The solution is not to replace AAA pitchers by bringing up AA pitchers, and then wasting their service time, and, therefore, decreasing their value (e.g. in possible trades).
Each morning I keep hoping against all hope that I will wake up and read “The Padres have fired __________.” (AG, AJ, or both) This would dramatically increase their potential for next year. In the mean time, AJ, don’t blow it with dumb moves in the next 2 days!!!
I have to give Green some credit, he finally sat Hosmer against a lefty. That’s a start…..