Jase Bowen found himself at the plate as the tying run in the top of the ninth inning with the San Diego Padres trailing the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2. Bowen singled in the top of the seventh inning for his first MLB hit and had a chance to extend or possibly tie the game with his second major league hit — that did not happen. Bowen faced Phillies veteran closer Jhoan Duran and looked like a guy who was just called up from Triple-A as he waved at three straight sweepers, which were all off the plate,
and struck out for the final out in San Diego’s one-run loss at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The at-bat by Bowen, while ugly, can be excused. He is a rookie hitter facing a veteran pitcher who took advantage of his eagerness to come through in the clutch. What cannot be overlooked is the Padres continued struggles with runners in scoring position and bad base running.
San Diego started the game with a line drive double by Fernando Tatis Jr. to open the top of the first inning. The next two hitters, Gavin Sheets and Manny Machado, each put the ball in the air for outs, but neither gave Tatis an opportunity to advance from second base. Miguel Andujar, who is struggling mightily at the plate, grounded out to third base for the final out of the inning.
The Padres took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning after Tatis reached on a two-out single. Sheets followed with a two-run home run to right field. San Diego gave up the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Trea Turner reached on a single and Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run to center field to tie the game, 2-2. Philadelphia took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jeremiah Estrada walked Harper to start his relief appearance. He then allowed a single to Brandon Marsh to put runners on the corners. Estrada got Alec Bohm to bounce into a groundball double play, but Harper scored and the Phillies found themselves up, 3-2. Estrada ended the inning one batter later when he struck out Bryson Stott.
There was a similar lack of execution for the Padres in the top of the seventh inning when Sung-Mun Song came to the plate with one out and runners on the corners. Xander Bogaerts was at third after a one out walk and Bowen was on first with a single. Song worked a 2-2 count but watched the third strike hit the inside corner of the plate and was called out looking. Ty France was called on to pinch-hit for the struggling Freddy Fermin, and he hit a grounder to Trea Turner at shortstop who flipped to Stott at second base to force out Song to end the inning.
San Diego showed one last sign of life in the top of the eighth inning, unfortunately it ended on a base running mistake by Tatis. The star outfielder reached on a single to lead off the inning but remained at first as once again Sheets and Machado produced flyball outs. Like the first inning, Andujar hit a grounder to third base, but due to how soft it was hit, Andujar reached first on an infield hit. However, Bohm faked a throw to first base and instead threw to second where Tatis had rounded the base and was considering advancing to third base when he was tagged out to end the inning.
The Padres will have to clean up their play of they are going to snap their current three-game skid. It will be a difficult task as they will face Christoper Sanchez, today at 3:40 p.m.
Padres News:
- Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball provides some statistics which may have been considered when the Padres called up Jase Bowen and recapped the week that was for the minor league affiliates of the San Diego system. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball also provided his perspective and opinion about the Bowen callup.
- San Diego continues to see its record fall closer and closer to .500 and with only Sheets doing damage, the offense appears to be unable to get things turned around.
- To make room for Jase Bowen on the San Diego roster, Ramon Laureano was sent to the injured list with right hip inflammation.
- Alex McCoy made some mechanical changes, and they are paying off for him as he makes a name for himself in the San Diego minor league system.
Baseball News:
- Matt Olson hit a sixth-inning home run which proved to be the difference in the game as the Atlanta Braves went on to beat the Toronto Blues Jays.
- Kyle Harrison recorded 12 strikeouts and helped the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Francisco Giants.
- Jose Ramirez hit three doubles to lead the Cleveland Guardians past the New York Yankees.
- Gleyber Torres returns to the lineup for the Detroit Tigers and led them to a win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
- Miami Marlins rookie breaks up no-hitter with home run and sparks Marlins offensive outburst en route to a win over the Washington Nationals.
- The Cincinnati Reds rallied to a walk-off win over the Kansas City Royals.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers evened their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 6-5 win.
