After the dust settled on a day of Trade Deadline moves, the San Diego Padres had to play a baseball game. Michael King took the mound in the first game of a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and allowed three runs on a home run by Tim Tawa and the Padres could not solve Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt, resulting in a 5-1 loss at Chase Field in Phoenix Monday night.
King was pushed back a day to make the start against Arizona because San Diego wanted its best pitcher to face the team
currently in front of them in the playoff chase. It seemed like the right move, but King was not sharp. He worked five innings and allowed three runs on five hits with four walks and five strikeouts. He has shown flashes of the ace he is expected to be by the Padres and their fans, but that was not the case against the Diamondbacks.
The offense, which has been playing well, struggled against Pfaadt. That storyline is nothing new, he always seems to pitch well against the San Diego lineup. Pfaadt allowed one unearned run on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts over 6.2 innings. What really hurt the Padres was the top four in the lineup, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, Manny Machado and Ty France going hitless on the night. The quartet was a combined 0-for-15 at the plate with one walk, one run scored and four strikeouts. The Friar Faithful have seen over their recent streak of success that those numbers from those players will almost always result in a loss for San Diego.
The Padres will try to get back in the win column tonight when they play the second game of the series at 6:40 p.m.
Padres News:
- The Padres made significant additions to their starting rotation at the Trade Deadline, adding starters Robbie Ray and Casey Mize. There will have to be some corresponding moves once those players join the team, but there is no doubt San Diego is a better team after the deadline than it was before. It was a day full of rumors and speculation, but when all was said and done, the Padres added and kept their valuable bullpen arms.
- The Padres had to use some big names from their farm system to acquire players at the Trade Deadline and general manager A.J. Preller says that is because they are trying to win.
- Dennis Lin of The Athletic says not selling was a gamble by the Padres.
Baseball News:
- All the moves from a busy Trade Deadline can be found here.
- George Lombard Jr. is being called up by the New York Yankees to make his MLB debut.
- Tarik Skubal is scheduled to make his Los Angeles Dodgers debut tonight against the Chicago Cubs.
- Alec Burleson clubbed three home runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a win over the Yankees.
- Mickey Moniak remained with the Colorado Rockies despite trade speculation and received a two-year extension.
