Padres 5, Giants 6: Hand can’t seal the deal

The Padres were looking to snag a quick W on the first game of the road series against the Giants. After a rocky first inning, things stabilized. The Padres were hitting when it counted. They were pitching well when it counted too. Well, until the end there.

Eric Lauer managed to skirt through 5 full innings, only getting tagged for 3 earned runs in the first inning. After that he pinned the Giants with 7 strikeouts, and forced 6 fly-outs. that he pinned the Giants with 7 strikeouts, and forced 6 fly-outs. Adam Cimber, Kirby Yates, and Craig Stammen all kept things together, recording an out and letting Brad Hand finish the 8th.

For Hand, It’s hard to get mad at a guy that throws over 9 innings of relief over the course of a month, giving up only 4 hits and 0 earned runs. It’s hard to get mad when he has 17 strikeouts and a sub 1.00 WHIP. It’s easy to get a little mad when he blows a save by giving up 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th against the Giants.

To focus on the positive, the Padres had 10 hits tonight. Manuel Margot had an RBI-single in the 4th inning, and Christian Villanueva drove in a run in the 5th with an RBI-ground out. The Friars combined for some good production in the 6th inning by capitalizing on some Giants misplays.

Margot reached safely for another RBI to tie the game at 3-3, searing a ball right between Evan Longoria’s legs. A.J. Ellis put the ball into play, plating another run on a sacrifice fly. Even Chase Headley contributed, poking an RBI-single to right field for his fourth hit of the season..

But alas, the Padres couldn’t take those runs and convert it to a win. Two hits and 3 RBI with two out off Brad Hand is all it took for the Giants to walk it off.

To add injury to insult, Austin Hedges and his elbow are looking worse for the wear after tonight:

Tyson Ross will give it another shot tomorrow, kicking off the first game of May.