Bullpen unravels in loss

In the second of a three-game series, the Padres took on the Atlanta Braves. After going into extra innings, the Padres couldn’t pull off a win. Luckily, they have one more chance tomorrow night.

At the mound tonight was a Padres favorite, Joey Lucchesi. Only giving up two runs in the first 5 innings, he threw 79 total pitches and 49 strikes. After Lucchesi, Trey Wingenter and Craig Stammen pitched one inning. Our favorite closer, Kirby Yates pitched 33 total pitches and stayed in for two innings, which isn’t something he normally does. Going into extra innings, Andy Green had to turn to his bullpen once again and gave Luis Perdomo the 10^th inning. Perdomo gave up 3 runs and put the Padres in a tight spot.

The Padres bats were a little better than last night, as the two teams battled back and forth. Manny Macho recorded two home runs, one in the 1^st and one in the 10^th, giving him 23 on the season. Francisco Mejia also had a homerun in the 5^th and had the chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10^th with two men on base. Unfortunately, his deep fly ball stayed just shy of the wall and resulted in the second out of the inning. The Braves then intentionally walked Manuel Margot, bringing up the pitcher Perdomo with the bases loaded and two outs. Perdomo had the chance to redeem himself after giving up the 3 runs in the top of the inning, but even after working the count full, he ended the game looking at a fastball right down the middle.

The Padres showed us again tonight that they can battle with any team, but just couldn’t finish this one out. This drops San Diego to two games under .500 and leaves them 0-2 to start the second half of the season.

Final score: Braves 7-5