Padres 2, Athletics 6: A’s get to Richard

The Padres spend some time in the Bay Area, taking on the Oakland Athletics for a two-game Fourth of July series. The first matchup today comes of the Padres’ day off on Tuesday, but the extra rest didn’t influence any positive results.

Clayton Richard took the mound today, but across 6 innings the Athletics took full advantage of his inability to find a comfortable spot in the strike zone. He walked 5 batters and allowed 6 hits, a home run, and somehow still only managed to give up a (high) total of 5 runs. Adam Cimber gave up an additional run in his inning of relief, a home run in the seventh, and Colten Brewer put up a 0 in the 8th.

The 6 total runs from the A’s were too much for the Pads’ lineup to climb over, but still put up the first runs of the game in the 5th inning. Eric Hosmer squeezed home a run with a groundout RBI, getting Travis Jankowski home and safe after a review. Wil Myers followed up with a healthy RBI-double.

The A’s struck back in the 6th and 7th innings and never looked back. Richard threw a total of 83 pitches and the Padres outhit the A’s 9-8, but stranded nine and concede the first half of the Fourth of July series.