Padres 3, Angels 6: Things get a little weird before Pads lose in extras

Well, the awaited Padres debut of Wil Myers at third base has come and gone. It’s nearly mid-August and time to get weird with things. With Myers at third, Christian Villanueva at first, and the Angels in town - the Friars tried to put something together to keep the positivity of their series against the Phillies going.

Clayton Richard totally delivered, going a full 8 innings giving up merely 4 hits and 2 runs, one on a homer in the first and another on a very wild pitch in the third. The Angels were kept to those two runs by Richard and Kirby Yates’ relief.

Craig Stammen would end up blowing things with the game tied 2-2 in the 10th, giving up an RBI-single, a safety squeeze, and then a two-run HR to Justin Upton (who would also end up robbing a Hosmer homer as well.) Earlier in the inning, Shohei Ohtani made an anticipated appearance and was thrown two balls, swung on a strike, then given two more balls for a walk.

The Padres had stayed neck-and-neck with the Trout-less Angels, with Freddy Galvis going yard for his 9th homer of the season and Eric Hosmer bringing home a run on a sac fly. Hosmer would score himself after cranking a homer to center field, putting the Pads at 6-3 before the Angels shut the door.

With that promise of keeping things a bit weirder, Myers’ debut at third kicked off with an unbelievable start: an immediate caught line drive, a chopping ground ball, and a chopping dribbler. Both ground balls required a charge from Myers, both were fielded cleanly, and the throw was well in time.

Myers ended the night with not three but eight infield assists, one short of a team record, and on his very first night as a Padres third baseman. Wil is entering enigma territory.

Over at first base to catch Myers’ stellar fielding was Christian Villanueva, who seemed to fill the position just fine. He slotted over to third after Myers exited the game and found himself in a weird position on a bunt that had Austin Hedges gunning down a runner at third in a non-force play. Villanueva ducked and Matrix’ed to the ground to allow Hedges to connect with Galvis to make the out.

With some more great outfield defense from Manuel Margot it’s hard to say the Pads aren’t at least occasionally giving a few entertaining morsels to watch as we approach the heart of August baseball.

Brett Kennedy will take a crack at the Halos tomorrow against Jaime Barria.