The San Diego Padres put an end to their recent walk-off shenanigans with a 9-5 come-from-behind victory over the Colorado Rockies Saturday night.
Germán Márquez, after his last stellar start, reverted to his previous not-so-good form but still managed to pick up the win with some thump from the offense.
Márquez allowed four runs on three homers across his five innings. Apart from those three mistakes, he did pretty well, striking out five and walking just two batters. But if he gets an offense like
this, he won’t have to pitch very well ever again.
The Padres mashed two multiple-run shots, a two-run homer from Manny Machado in the third inning, and a three-run homer from Ramón Laureano in the fourth.
In Fernando Tatis Jr.’s return to the infield (starting second baseman) he put up great numbers, going 3-for-4 with an RBI walk. His production at the plate has been poor so far. Hopefully this marks a return to his past offensive pedigree.
Taking the mound
Kyle Freeland (COL) v. Nick Pivetta (SD)
The Rockies’ Opening Day starter has been off to a fantastic start to the season, allowing four runs across 15 2/3 innings. In his last start, he limited a potent Houston Astros offense to just three hits.
If Freeland can do the same against San Diego, the Friars will need the same dominant outing from Pivetta, or else their hopes for a series sweep will wither away quickly.
The encouraging thing is that Freeland has horrible numbers against just about everybody on this Padres team. The Friars (except for Miguel Andujar who has yet to face Freeland) have a combined .299 batting average against him. If their bats can do what Houston couldn’t they’ll have no problem with the left-hander.
Pivetta’s last outing was stellar but, unfortunately, resulted in a loss after just losing in a pitcher’s duel with Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes. He only allowed two runs across five innings of work, but Skenes was too much for San Diego and Pivetta’s off to a 1-2 win-loss record to start the year.
He’s sitting at a 5.54 ERA through his first three starts, but that’s only due to his rough Opening Day numbers (6 ER, 3.0 IP). In his last two starts, he’s authored a 1.80 ERA and has looked more like his usually-dominant self.
Pivetta doesn’t have great numbers against this Rockies lineup, but that’s not to say that he won’t today. He’s a very different pitcher now, and he’ll look to make sure the Friars’ offense isn’t leaned on too heavily this series.
Batter up!
After an off day yesterday, and his as-of-late very hot bat, Xander Bogaerts figures to take the leadoff spot against the lefty Freeland. He owns a career .462 average against Freeland (13 at-bats).
Ty France could also get in reps at either first base or DH with a .364 average (11 ABs). With that, the lineup could look something like this:
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Ramón Laureano, LF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Miguel Andujar, DH
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Luis Campusano, C
- Ty France, 1B
If Campusano can add to his stellar performance from Friday night (HR, 2B, BB, RBI, R), the Padres will coast to a series sweep. Tatis’ bat seemed to wake up a bit last night and San Diego will hope for the same from him.
Relief corps
The Friars used exactly who was available, fantastically enough. Wandy Peralta pitched a clean frame and a third, and Ron Marinnacio allowed one run in the eighth inning that became inconsequential.
But Bradgley Rodriguez … he looked a little worse for wear on the mound. Rodriguez came in for the ninth and got two quick outs before giving up back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases. With the tying run now at the plate, Craig Stammen called on the returning Jason Adam.
Adam quickly got Ezequiel Tovar into a 1-2 count before popping him out harmlessly to Tatis at second base.
That leaves Kyle Hart, Adrian Morejon, David Morgan, and Mason Miller available today. That combination gives San Diego some wiggle room should Pivetta stumble. But the Padres seem well-positioned for their first sweep of the season.
