Zach Davies silences Padres in 7-1 loss
Credit: Orlando Ramirez, USA Today Sports
Petco Park- San Diego, California
After somewhat of a breakout performance offensively for the San Diego Padres Monday night, Zach Davies made his return to Petco Park and silenced the Padres in a 7-1 loss.
Davies dealt for the Padres in the 2020 season and was a significant part of the large jump the Padres made in the standings from 2019 to 2020.
After the Padres traded him to the Cubs this offseason, Davies got off to a rather slow start. He looked like he never lost his 2020 form with six shutout innings while only allowing one hit and striking out four batters. Tuesday’s performance lowers Davies’ ERA to 4.45 on the season, which is now dramatically lower than his ERA, which once was above nine late in April.
It ultimately did not matter how Dinelson Lamet pitched given the shutout, but Lamet allowed just one hit and one run through his first five innings of work. He looked up to his 2020 form, similar to Davies, with the exception of the one mistake pitch that Willson Contreras hit into the second deck in left field for a home run.
“I thought he was really sharp the first five,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “He was efficient and kept them in check.”
Hey, five innings of one-run ball from Dinelson Lamet. How 'bout that?
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) June 9, 2021
When Lamet’s spot in the lineup did not come to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning, Tingler opted to let Lamet go back out to work the sixth inning. The first three batters all belted hits off Lamet, and he left the game being charged with four earned runs.
“I wanted to run him back out there,” Tingler said. “We were gonna give him 2-3 hitters right there. They were able to fist a couple of balls there, and I obviously went and got him.”
Miguel Diaz and Nabil Crismatt did not come and do their jobs out of the bullpen either. Both relievers surrendered a run for each inning of work, with Diaz pitching one and Crismatt going two, and the game was suddenly out of reach.
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Although the pitching staff did not have a good night, the bats for the Padres were even worse. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth were the only starters to get in the hit column. The only run of the game was scored when Ha-Seong Kim, who came off the bench, smacked a double for the Padres’ third hit, which was the only one to go for extra bases. This continued the offensive woes that have plagued the Padres over the past two weeks.
After the Padres and Cubs split the first two games of the series, the Wednesday afternoon game will serve as the rubber match in the three-game set. Yu Darvish will make his first start against his former team since he was traded by the Cubs in the offseason. He will go up against Jake Arrieta. The first pitch is at 1:10 PT.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”