After the San Diego Padres scored seven unanswered runs in the beginning of Friday night’s game, it felt like the game was already over. It wasn’t even close to that. Robbie Ray pitched well for four innings, giving up just one run. Then, in the fifth, he loaded the bases with two walks and a single before Rafael Devers got ahold of a pitch well below the zone for a grand slam. That made the game interesting for the final four innings.
Despite some base traffic in the final four frames, the Padres
and San Francisco Giants traded zeroes. The key point came in the bottom of the ninth. After getting two quick outs, close Mason Miller walked Nate Furman, allowed Jonah Cox to single and walked Devers (though that was due to a bad ball call that would have been overturned had the Friars not been out of ABS challenges). Thankfully, Miller punched out Bryce Eldridge to end the drama.
Taking the mound
Cesar Perdomo (SF) v. Michael King (SD)
Perdomo has only begun to get his feet wet at the big-league level. The left-hander has thrown just 10 innings between two appearances. But, in that time, he’s surrendered just one run. His strikeout numbers are low (8), but his command is fantastic. He’s given up just two walks in his time in San Francisco.
Perhaps Perdomo’s biggest strength is the Padres’ lack of experience against him. The young lefty may very well be able to limit the Friars if they can’t solve him quickly enough. San Diego was all over starter Anthony Molina last night. They’ll need the same kind of production form their lineup in order to win the series.
King is on the verge of lowering his season ERA below 3.00. He currently sits at a perfect 3.00 ERA with 144 strikeouts through 168 innings. King has been the Padres’ ace this season. He’s anchored the rotation and strongly aided this club in their postseason aspirations.
His biggest problem hasn’t even been his own. King has been one of the least supported pitchers in all of baseball. For whatever reason, the lineup dies when King takes the mound. The Padres have gotten some of their best pitching from the right-hander, but their lineup will need to follow suit this afternoon .
Batter up!
The Padres have won five straight games now, mostly due to some incredible offense. In those five games, the Padres have scored 5.6 runs on average. That’s well above the average runs scored by MLB teams (4.48). If the Friars keep that up, it’ll be difficult for anybody to stop their march to the postseason.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
- Jake Cronenworth, 1B
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Luis Campusano, C
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Austin Hays, DH
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Samad Taylor, LF
- Dustin Harris, RF
With Ty France on the paternity list for the next few days, Cronenworth remains the likely option at first base with Tatis shifting to the keystone position. That should remain that way until France returns, but could change with infielder Mason McCoy being recalled from Triple-A.
Relief corps
After Ray struggled in the first inning, it seemed certain that he would repeat the command problems he dealt with in his last start versus the New York Yankees. He definitely did, though Ray worked through them well. Until the ill-fated grand slam, Ray surrendered just one run.
Additionally, making it through five innings allowed the Padres’ bullpen to get some rest. Unfortunately, the grand slam made it so that the Friars needed their high-leverage relievers. Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon, Bradgley Rodriguez and Mason Miller covered the remainder of the game. That leaves San Diego with Griffin Canning, Kyle Hart, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Randy Vásquez once King departs.
