After a horrible loss at home last night the Padres took the fight to the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The third game in the home/away 4-game series saw Matt Szczur in his first full start for the San Diego Padres, and it was a good one. With that being said, despite the Friars’ best efforts, and an otherwise solid performance from Padres pitching and hitting, the game slipped through the hands of the good guys.
The good
Szczur had his first real chance to show what the Pads gained with him in left field. That gain was a 3-for-4 night and a RBI. Elsewhere in the lineup, Wil Myers did his thang by crushing a solo HR in the very first inning, his 8th home run of the season now. If the Padres would upload some video you’d be able to hear how much pop the thing had (landing 425 feet out), instead, let’s listen to Erick Aybar’s 4th home run of the season:
Erick Aybar KA-RUSHED this one pic.twitter.com/0jms1CefKZ
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 11, 2017
Despite some defensive miscues elsewhere, Yangervis Solarte was flexin’ at second, at least for this play:
Some #ASGworthy leather work by @Solarte26 tonight! pic.twitter.com/ZFdZ0P77bi
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 11, 2017
The bad
Luis Perdomo had a really good start well within his grasp. After an unfortunate run scored on his wild pitch, Perdomo was straight up dealing until the 5th, giving up an RBI-single and a run on a balk. Seriously though, Perdomo had 7 strikeouts and a 96-61 pitch-to-strike ratio, but two little mistakes negated his start and gave the Rangers all the go-ahead they needed for the win.
In addition, Brad Hand had an uncharacteristic start, issuing two walks (one four-pitch), and giving up what would be the true go-ahead run for the Rangers. We’d probably put the pitching in the good category if not for one or two slip-ups, so not ugly.
The ugly
1 for 11 with runners in scoring position is ugly, especially when you’re tied or a run behind. The Padres had a good opportunity in the 7th when Szczur leads off the inning with a single, followed by a Luis Torrens single. Manuel Margot reaches safely on a force, and with 1 out, Cory Spangenberg advanced Torrens to 3rd. Myers then lines out, ends the inning.
Not extraordinarily ugly, but it adds up, especially when the game-deciding run comes in the bottom of the 7th where Solarte pulls his throw a bit wide and sends his double-play ball into the first-base dugout, scoring in Shin-Soo Choo (who was responsible for 3 of the 4 runs tonight.) The errors, the miscues, and the bad baseball all add up to something not pretty to watch.
Clayton Richard will get the chance to split the series evenly against Martin Perez. Richard hasn’t done so hot against the Rangers but has been throwing straight ground-ball practice for the Friars every other start. Perez hasn’t faced the Padres, and certainly not this eclectic lineup, so the Pads will get a clean shot at his 4.06 ERA.