Padres 5, Todd Tichenor 2: Friars Win In Spite Of Bad Umpiring

Kennedy got into trouble in the third when Corey Dickerson hit a triple off the glove of Raymond Fuentes and then walked future Mr. Laura McKeeman Josh Rutledge. He looked as though he was going to work his way out of the jam when he struck out Troy Tulowitzki for the second out, but Michael Cuddyer took a 2-2 changeup to left field to put the Rockies on the board. The Padres were ready to get that run back in the bottom of the inning. Raymond Fuentes and Rene Rivera hit back to back singles to start the inning, but then Kennedy struck out on a foul bunt. Will Venable wasn't much more help, hitting a grounder to first. He beat out the double play, leaving runners on the corners. With Alexi Amarista at the plate, Fuentes saw his opportunity on a wild pitch and sprinted for home. He was met at the plate by catcher Jordan Pacheco. According to home plate umpire Todd Tichenor, Pacheco was there first. According to video, Fuentes was. Unfortunately, a human being's fallible eyes take precedence over the incontrovertible evidence of high definition video. 1-0, Rockies.

Things got worse in the fourth, as Charlie Blackmon reached second when Ronny Cedeño couldn't handle a ground ball. Then Pacheco hurt the Padres again, this time by knocking a double to left. The Friars got another shot in the bottom of the fifth when a pair of singles from Kyle Blanks and Ronny Cedeño put runners on the corners with nobody out. Fuentes hit a grounder to third and Blanks was caught in a rundown. He managed to dodge Roy Oswalt's tag, but Tichenor ruled that he left the basepath. I'm not convinced, and neither was Tony Gwynn. Cedeño moved to third in the chaos and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Rivera. I'm pretty sure Tichenor objected to that, too, but there was nothing he could do.

After a rousing singalong of Take Me Out To The Ballgame, the Padre bats were finally ready to do some real damage. Chase Headley drew a leadoff walk. He was followed by a pair of singles from Blanks and Cedeño to load the bases. After Fuentes hit a shallow fly out, Jesus Guzman came up in place of Rene Rivera and drew a four pitch walk to tie the game. Birthday boy Nick Hundley was then called upon to hit for pitcher Nick Vincent, and he laced an 0-2 pitch down the left field line for a bases clearing double. 5-2, Padres. Suck it, Tichenor.

It was all on the bullpen from there. Tim Stauffer took over in the top of the eighth and punched out the side. Then Huston Street sent the Rockies down in order to earn his 29th save of the season. With this sweep, the Padres are now tied for third place.

The boys are on a happy flight to Philadelphia now. Andrew Cashner will take on Tyler Cloyd at 4:05 PM Tuesday.

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