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On June 5th, the Padres played the Phillies to end the three-game series. Winning only one of three games, the Padres are now 31-31 in the standings.
With Matt Strahm now on the Injured List (IL) and Brad Wieck optioned back to El Paso, the Padres pitching staff had its back against the ropes coming into today’s game. They looked to the young, Cal Quantrill to pitch in only his 5th Major League start. Quantrill has been shaky at best in his previous appearances, and after seeing what the Phillies (mainly Jay Bruce) did to the Sheriff (Chris Paddack) last night it was hard to be optimistic. However, Quantrill started out throwing like his spot in ‘The Show’ was on the line, only giving up 5 hits and 2 runs against a strong looking Phillies offense. He ended up taking the Padres through 5 innings and finished with 80 pitches total, 52 for strikes, and recorded 7 strikeouts.
Following Quantrill, the Padres needed their bullpen to keep the wheels moving. Finally, back with the team Miguel Diaz had a strong 6th inning, but then the wheels fell off as Trey Wingenter gave up 2 runs in the 7th and Craig Stammen gave up 3 in his 1.1 inning performance. With the Padres in desperate need of a starter who can pitch into the later innings, the struggling bullpen continued to do just that. Struggle. Without many options left, the Padres’ famous closer, Kirby Yates came in, down two runs, but held his ground and got the Padres out of the 9th inning. Sadly, it wasn’t enough for the padres to steal a victory.
After dropping 4 of the last 6 games, it is easy to blame the bats, but if you have been watching the games you know that’s just not the case. In the 3rd inning Manny Machado slapped a 2 out double against the wall, followed by an Eric Hosmer walk, which led to the 2 out 3 run blast by Padre newbie Josh Naylor. As not to be out done, Wil Myers immediately followed that by tacking on a run of his own with a solo shot to dead center, giving San Diego an early lead.
Unable to hold out, the San Diego bullpen gave up 5 runs in the last 3 innings, leading to the Padres eventual loss. After dropping the series 2 games to 1, we look to dust ourselves off and turn our focus to the Washington Nationals, who are in town tomorrow for the first of a 4-game series.
Final score Phillies 7-5.