Padres 8, Reds 2: Friars crash Harvey’s party

After a rough opener against the Reds last night, the Padres bounced back in spectacular fashion. They scored their first run before getting a hit, and when the hits did come, they didn’t stop. Eric Lauer only went five innings, but he gave up just one run.

Travis Jankowski started the game by reaching on an error. Catcher Curt Casali threw high to first, pulling Joey Votto off the bag. He stole second, and then went to third on a wild pitch. Jose Pirela hit a fly to deep center field, and that brought Travis home, all while a big round zero hung under the H on the scoreboard.

Casali made up for his error by taking Lauer deep in the second. That was the closest the Reds ever got to a lead. Franmil Reyes led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, followed immediately by Freddy Galvis. A.J. Ellis drew a walk to load the bases. That set up Manuel Margot for a two run double to right. Lauer helped himself with a sacrifice fly, and Jankowski picked up a RBI with a single to right. Just like that, the Friars were up 5-1.

The four run lead was nice, but the Friars added another three after the stretch. Jankowski led off the inning with a single then swiped his second bag of the game. Eric Hosmer brought him home with a single. Pirela and Christian Villanueva loaded the bases with back-to-back singles of their own, setting up Matt Szczur for a two-run hit to put the Pads up 8-1.

Jose Castillo made his big league debut in the top of the eighth, ably striking out all three Reds he faced and getting a standing ovation from the home crowd. Phil Hughes wasn’t as good in the ninth, giving up a leadoff homer to Scott Schebler, but he retired the next three batters to end the game.

Tyson Ross will take the mound in tomorrow’s rubber match. Due to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in the morning, first pitch will be at 3:10 PM.