Padres 6, Dodgers 2: Friars take 3 of 4 from best team in baseball

After sweeping the Dodgers in yesterday’s double header, the Padres kept on rolling this afternoon. They sent the bums packing with a 6-4 loss, and a lot of that credit goes to starter Jhoulys Chacin. The veteran pitcher went seven innings, providing some much needed relief to a brutally overworked bullpen. In that time, he allowed three runs, with only two of them earned. And for the cherry on top, he fanned eight Dodgers without walking a single one.

The good guys got on the board in the first inning when Alex Wood had a shaky start. After retiring the first two batters, Wood walked Jose Pirela. Wil Myers kept the inning going by turning the first pitch he saw into a single that put runners on the corners. Then Wood got wild, and PIrela swiped home to put the Pads up 1-0.

The fourth inning was the only real trouble Chacin got into. Chris Taylor led off the inning with a shot to center, and the trouble continued as Curtis Granderson reached on a throwing error by Myers. Perpetual thorn in the side Justin Turner gave the Dodgers a brief lead with his RBI double. And it was brief. Matt Szczur led off the bottom half of the inning with a double, and Erick Aybar hit a home run to put the good guys back on top. Yes, that Erick Aybar.

The Padres got some insurance in the fifth when Pirela joined Aybar with his tenth shot of the season.

Chacin was grateful for that insurance in the seventh. Cody Bellinger led off the inning with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly. Things nearly got real bad as Yasiel Puig hit a double and went to third on a single from Alex Verdugo. But our old friend Logan Forsythe grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The Friars reupped their insurance after the stretch. Manuel Margot and Carlos Asuaje started the inning with back-to-back singles, and Pirela loaded the bases with his second walk of the afternoon. That brought up Myers, who capped his 3-for-4 day with a two-run single. That was plenty of breathing room for Brad Hand, who got stung by a Bellinger bomb before ushering the Dodgers out of town.

It’s another afternoon game tomorrow, as the Padres celebrate Labor Day against the St. Louis Cardinals.