Diamondbacks 9, Padres 4: Another starter gives up 5

There’s bad news and good news. The bad news is that for the second night in a row, a Padres starter gave up five runs to the Diamondbacks. The good news is that Joey Lucchesi lasted six times as long as Jacob Nix, working a whole four innings. There’s more bad news, in that tonight’s bullpen crew was much worse, giving up an additional four runs over five innings. There is a little more good news, as the Friars managed to plate four of their own even though they went an appalling 5-for-33.

Lucchesi’s bad night started early, as Paul Goldschmidt put him in the hole with a two-run bomb in the first inning. But Arizona starter Robbie Ray wasn’t much better, as he started the bottom of the frame with two straight walks. The Pads didn’t do as much with that as they could have, as they hit a miserable 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. But a couple ground outs did bring leadoff man Jose Pirela (yes, I’m just as confused as you are) home to make it 2-1 D’backs.

The first inning looked pretty good compared to the second. Lucchesi faced four straight batters before recording an out. Nick Ahmed led off with a single, and Ketel Marte backed him up with a double. Two more singles plated both runners, but Joey limited the damage by retiring the next three Zonies.

The bottom of the third was nearly a carbon copy of the first. Pirela and Myers drew walks off Ray yet again, and Eric Hosmer hit a single to score Pirela. But some Arizona small ball erased that gain in the fourth. Our old friend Jon Jay hit a one-out single and sped to third on an Eduardo Escobar base hit. When A.J. Pollock grounded to third, Wil tried to turn two, but Pollock beat the throw to first and Jay made it home safely.

The Padres got a bit of a gift in the fifth inning. Hosmer went yard to left field, crushing his twelfth homer of the year and the beer of a fan in the front row. But replay review seemed to show the fan’s beer coming between Jon Jay’s glove and the ball. It looked likely to be overturned, but the replay officials in New York let it stand.

Things were looking up after that, but Miguel Diaz ruined everything in the sixth. Jon Jay hit a one-out single, and then Diaz walked Escobar on four straight pitches. He managed to fan Pollock... right before tossing four more balls to Goldschmidt to load the bases. That set up Steven Souza Jr. for a three run double, putting the lead solidly out of reach.

Escobar scored one more time in the eighth, as he destroyed a hanging slider from Jose Castillo. Manuel Margot returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning, but it was too little, too late.

Clayton Richard will try to stop the bleeding tomorrow evening. First pitch at 5:40 PM.