Padres take Astros series 2-1 over Memorial Day weekend

Happy Memorial Day, Friar Faithful!

I hope you’re all enjoying the long weekend while remembering to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country and our freedoms.

The Padres came out of the weekend with the series win over the Astros after winning the first two games on Friday (10-3) and Saturday (11-8) before dropping game three on Sunday afternoon (7-4).

Game one featured an immense amount of late-game fireworks from the Padres after both teams entered extra innings tied at 2-2. After both teams scored in the 10th, the Friars exploded for seven runs in the 11th which put the game away in emphatic fashion. Tommy Pham, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Jurickson Profar both recorded a pair of RBIs, with Pham and Tatis both going yard early on.

Dinelson Lamer started that game and only pitched three innings, giving up two runs and striking out three with two walks.

The second game featured a massive comeback effort from the Padres that rallied back from a 5-0 deficit heading into the sixth inning. Tatis drove in the team’s first run on a grounder to second which spurred their 5-1 run over the next three innings. El Nino also went yard for a three-run game-tying deep shot in the top of the ninth.

Both teams went back-and-forth in the 10th and 11th with the score knotted at 8-8 heading into the 12th. Wil Myers finally shut the door on the Astros with a three-run homer. He and Tatis both finished with four RBIs on Saturday evening.

Yu Darvish was started that game and had a ho-hum performance compared to his usual standards. He finished with five K’s in five innings with four runs allowed.

The Padres once again attempted to comeback from a notable deficit in game three but it just wasn’t in the cards on Sunday afternoon. The Astros took a commanding 7-0 lead in the third before San Diego clamped down. Catcher Wil Rivas recorded a solo home run on his first major-league hit to get the Padres on the board in the fifth and the duo of Myers and Ha-Seong Kim both went yard in the ninth to put them within three. Unfortunately, that’s where the late-game magic stalled out.

Blake Snell began the night and put together another forgettable performance. He only last three innings, allowed all of the Astros seven runs, and finished with three strikeouts and three walks. Joe Musgrove took over in the fourth and proceeded to strikeout just three in the final five innings with zero walks.

The Padres begin a three-game series against the Cubs this morning with a start time of 11:20 a.m. Chris Paddack (2-3, 3.61 ERA) is slated as the game one starter while the Cubs starter is still undecided.