Padres 10, Cubs 6: Friars split series with hit parade

If you’ve ever had an accident with a power tool, you might not have enough fingers to count all of the Padres’ runs today, because they plated a whopping ten runners to beat the Cubs. Three Friars went yard today, and four others had extra base hits. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses, as the pitching staff gave up six runs, but with bats on fire like that, who needs pitching?

While the big hits were the core of the game, the Padres opened up with some classic small ball. Manuel Margot led off the game with a single, and moved to second on a ground out. A wild pitch gave him the chance to move to third, and Hunter Renfroe brought him home with a sacrifice fly.

Freddy Galvis was the first Friar to homer as he led off the second with a bomb to left. But the boys had a crooked number in mind. Franmil Reyes followed up with a single. A productive out put him in scoring position, and Joey Lucchesi drew a walk. One out later, it looked like they might be stranded, but Eric Hosmer delivered big with a two RBI triple.

The Cubs finally got on board in the third with a Javier Baez homer, but Franmil Reyesanswered back in the fourth with a 477 foot missile. Chicago didn’t actually gain ground until the fifth, when the Pads played some sloppy baseball. Tommy La Stella reached base on catcher’s interference, and scored on an Albert Almora Jr. single. Oh, and an error by Hunter Renfroe. All of that ended with Almora on third, setting him up to score easily on Javy Baez’s double. Hedges caught Baez stealing to end the inning, but the damage was already done.

Things got worse in the seventh. With one out, Jose Castillo gave up three singles in a row, and Craig Stammen allowed one more when he took over mid-inning. That plated a pair of Cubs to tie the game.

Some two-out heroics in the eighth put the Friars back on top. Travis Jankowski drew a walk, and then he swiped second. That set up Cory Spangenberg to bring him home with a double to center. They piled on in the ninth when Renfroe hit a two-run bomb and Jankowski hit a bases loaded single. Ben Zobrist took Kirby Yates yard in the bottom of the ninth, but that was all the Cubs got.

The Friars are on a happy flight to Milwaukee, where Clayton Richard will take the mound Tuesday night. First pitch at 5:10 PM.