Erik Johnson does "better" than James Shields

So far we can say that this Erik Johnson - James Shields trade wasn't a downgrade in the pitching department yet. But it wasn't really an upgrade either. Johnson pitched on-par for what he has shown this season, and the Friars had a tough time rebounding from that in the way that they did last night, which means no top-of-the-ninth win for the Padres.

Johnson threw 4 innings and change today, giving up 5 runs in 9 hits. In his last start for the White Sox against Cleveland he gave up 5 runs in 6 hits. Two of those runs today were home runs, and in May he had collected 5 home runs in just two starts. So if Padres fans are concerned they might miss James Shields for some reason, don't worry; he's still here apparently.

The defense behind Johnson was solid, though, and did their best to keep things calm. Matt Kemp and Jon Jay both had some interesting catches in the outfield.

Kemp's jumping grab | Jay's over-the-shoulder catch

Wil Myers also stretched out over at first base, grabbing and turning an out on what would have been another run for the Rockies.

Myers' diving stop

To sprinkle a little bad news after all of that good stuff, Yangervis Solarte had to leave the game after a thumb contusion. Nothing terribly threatening to his status on the roster, but the dude can't seem to avoid getting banged up.

Update from the clubhouse: Solarte left today's game with a left thumb contusion.

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 11, 2016

Offensively, the Padres put in some halfway decent work. Most of it came in the first inning where Solarte scored Myers on a groundout. Melvin Upton Jr. plated Kemp with yet-another RBI single. Upton Jr. is top three for RBI's for the Padres at this point.

Upton Jr.'s RBI single

Jon Jay popped in another RBI single, and was thrown out trying to stretch that into a double. This tied the game, but after Johnson gave up a homer and a run in the 5th, the Friars trailed off and couldn't catch up.

We still get a shot at clinching a series tomorrow, where Christian Friedrich, a man with a positive ERA and solid support from his team in almost all of his starts, gets to face up against Eddie Butler who managed an okay outing against the Dodgers back on Tuesday.