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For the second game in a row, the Padres could not figure out Giants pitching and were shut out, resulting in a sweep at AT&T Park. Padres bats were silent for the last 21 innings of the three-game series, leaving fans wondering what happened to the team that score 22 runs while sweeping the Dodgers just days ago.
San Francisco starter Barry Zito improved to 3-1 on the season as he tossed seven shutout innings, keeping San Diego to five hits and striking out four. The Padres did come close a few times. Jesus Guzman, batting in the cleanup spot, hit a couple of balls deep into left field, just shy of leaving the park. Jedd Gyorko had a chance for extra bases in the 4th, but his hard-hit line drive went straight into the hands of Marco Scutaro. Almost doesn't count, however, and the Padres failed to bring any runs home. After refraining from being shut out for the first 16 games of the season, they went scoreless in back-to-back games.
Meanwhile, the Giants capitalized once again on Padres pitching mistakes. Andres Torres led off the 3rd with a double off starter Eric Stults. Brandon Crawford immediately followed with a single and then moved to second base on a sac bunt by Zito. Angel Pagan then brought home two runs with a bases-clearing double and later scored himself on a single by Pablo Sandoval to make it a 3-0 lead for the Giants. Sandoval singled again with two outs in the 5th inning. Then Buster Posey homered to add two more runs for San Francisco. Altogether, Stults was tagged for five runs on eight hits in seven innings of work.
A scary moment in today's game came in the bottom of the 6th inning. Kyle Blanks ran for a ball hit by Joaquin Arias and collided with the outfield wall in left after making the catch.
He hung onto the ball, but stayed on the ground for a bit before leaving the game. Fortunately for Blanks and the Padres, it doesn't seem to be serious. Corey Brock tweeted that Blanks had to get four stitches on his left eyelid (he was cut by his sunglasses when the lenses came out as he hit the wall), but he is doing fine. Personally, I was more scared for the wall.
The Padres come back to San Diego to take on the Brewers next and hopefully have better luck at home this time.