If there is one thing you have to be in order to survive in MLB it’s resilient. The Padres are having their resiliency tested as I type after they suffered another heartbreaking loss at the hands of the Dodgers, this one in extra innings 4-2. No loss is taken lightly, but there are some that are harder to leave in your locker when you head home from the ballpark. They resonate inside and leave you feeling pissed off and grumpy every time you think about it until the next game. I would imagine this was one of those for the Padres.
Shields and Bollinger both pitched well, and posted goose eggs through the first four innings, but each team had it’s missed opportunities early to score. In the 2nd the Pads connected for three hits in the inning but were unable to score in part because of Alonso getting thrown out on a steal attempt. In the Dodger 3rd Callaspo lead off with a double, but Bolsinger failed to get the sac-bunt down to move him to third and it would prove costly. Pederson followed with a single to right, but Kemp came up firing a strike all the way home in the air to convincingly gun down Callaspo trying to score. It was both a great throw by Kemp and a blown opportunity by the Dodgers in their not being able to execute the bunt.
The Friars finally broke through in the 5th, and it was Shields himself who got the rally going with a single on a curveball to right. Venable followed with a single, and Solarte walked to load the bases. Upton, who was the hero in last night’s come from behind win with a game winning home run, came through again today this time with a single up the middle to score Shields and Venable. Pads had a 2-0 lead heading to the 6th.
Shields appeared determined to not let the lead slip away like it did in his last outing and mowed the Dodgers down 1-2-3 in the 6th. The Pads for their part flirted with adding on to their lead in the 7th as they got two runners on base, but Upton and Kemp were retired to end the threat.
Ethier cut the Pads lead in half in the 7th with a solo HR to make it 2-1. Shields made it through the inning to complete an excellent 7 inning 1-run effort, and confidence was high that the slim lead would be protected by the back end of the bullpen.
Benoit came in for the 8th and retired the first two batters no problem. Then after he got ahead of Puig 1-2 he threw three straight balls to walk him. That two out walk proved to be the turning point of the ballgame. That free pass brought Adrian Gonzalez to the plate. Although he had been kept in check (1 for 11) over the series you can never take him for granted. He showed why when he lined a mislocated change up into right field for a double that scored Puig and tied the game up. It was a devastating blow and the Padres would never regain the lead.
The fellas tried to respond in their half of the 9th by getting two runners on and Upton to the plate. Justin was given the green light 3-0, got a pitch to his liking, and drove it to dead center field over the head of Joc Pederson. In one of the best catches I’ve seen all season Pederson immediately turned his back to home plate and ran full speed straight back toward the wall. For about five strides all you could see was the #31 on his back as he raced back full speed. He then peeked over his left shoulder to find the ball but realized it actually was going towards his other side. He then quickly looked back the other way over his right shoulder as he still ran full speed towards the wall and reached out at the last second up and away on the back hand to snare the ball before slamming into the wall. He was able to hang onto the ball for the final out to complete what was truly a magnificent play, as good as you’ll see.
Kimbrel, Kelley, and Garces all pitched well to keep the game knotted at 2-2 into the 12th. Buddy called on Thayer at that point with Maurer down for the day, and Vincent yet to have appeared in a game since being recalled in Atlanta. Dale frankly appeared fatigued and struggled with locating his pitches effectively especially anything off speed. It wasn’t long before the bases were loaded, but Dale managed to strike out Puig to get within an out of escaping cleanly. The only obstacle was Adrain Gonzalez…oh is that all? The former Padre jumped on the second pitch he saw from Thayer and lined it into center field for a single to plate two and give L.A. a 4-2 lead. Jansen came on to close it out, and while he did allow a 2-out single he then retired the next batter for the save, and the series win.
As a Padres fan you’re eaten up with heartache after the series loss, especially in light of the fact that the Pads had the late lead in each of the two loses and could just as easily have swept the Dodgers to beat their rivals and gain 3 games in the standings. However, as a baseball fan you couldn’t ask for a much more exciting and plot twisting series. It was about as intense a match up as you can have for a series in June, and hopefully is the precursor to another exciting and meaningful series when these two teams next lock horns again at Petco in September.
Yes, this one stung and will resonate for a while. It does take resiliency to survive in MLB, and it’s times like this when that resiliency is tested.
Tomorrow the Pads will have to put this behind them and come out hungry to make someone pay. It will be Ross’s mission to quickly get that sour taste out of the Padres mouth and move forward. First pitch is at 7:10, and you can join Ted Leitner and myself for all the action the Mighty 1090.
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One Comment
Amir
June 15, 2015 at 9:31 am