Last night was a tough loss for the San Diego Padres. It was a game that they would have won any other night. The Friars had all the momentum after tying the game late against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They forced extra innings and threw up zeroes in the 10th and 11th innings. But the Friars failed to score the winning run in the bottom of each frame due to bad bunts.
In both extra innings, the Padres bunted too high, making it an easy catch for the Pirates defense. That allowed Pittsburgh to keep San Diego at bay, despite the Friars loading the bases with one out in the 11th. It was a tough game for the potent offense, scoring just two runs against the Pirates’ pitching staff, and only one against starter Braxton Ashcraft. If the Padres can turn that around in Game 2, they’ll have no problems forcing the rubber match.
Taking the moundPaul Skenes (PIT) v. Michael King (SD)Petco Park should be the stage for yet another pitcher’s duel tonight. That said, Skenes has struggled lately. After putting up consecutive seasons with a sub-2.00 ERA, Skenes owns a 3.95 ERA this season. It’s been a rough year for the superstar pitcher, as many have speculated that he might be pitching through an injury given his regression.
That said, Skenes still has the ability to dominate any team. It will be his first time pitching in Petco Park in his career, with most of the Friars never having faced the Pittsburgh ace. In their limited opportunities against Skenes, the Padres are batting a combined .125 against him (3-for-24). Hopefully, that can change tonight.
It’s nearly impossible to overstate just how imperative King has been for the Padres this season. San Diego has been without Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta for the majority of this season. King has anchored an injury-plagued rotation that has underperformed at times. His solid 3.38 ERA doesn’t quite do his performance justice.
King has pitched just as good lately, having just pitched into the seventh inning against the New York Mets last week. He’s given up just six runs across his last 18 2/3 innings pitched. If he can limit the Pirates in a similar fashion tonight, it should allow San Diego to scratch a few runs off of Skenes and the Pittsburgh pitching staff.
Batter up!The potent lineup went dark against starter Braxton Ashcraft in the series opener on Monday night, scoring just one run on a called balk. That comes after the Padres scored a ridiculous 21 runs against the Minnesota Twins (seven runs per game on average). Hopefully, that production can return against Skenes in Game 2 tonight.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Ty France, 1B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Luis Campusano, C
- Gavin Sheets, DH
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Dustin Harris, LF
Cronenworth played the hero on Monday night, tying the game for the Padres late to force extra innings. He made several key defensive plays that salvaged the game for the Friars as well. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win the Friars the game, but if Cronenworth’s bat starts to wake up, it would be a massive addition to the San Diego lineup.
Relief corpsWith the game going into the 12th inning, the Padres used plenty of relievers on Monday night. That means they’ll be relying on a solid start from King to salvage the ‘pen. After starter Robbie Ray departed, the Friars turned to Bradgley Rodriguez, Yuki Matsui, Kyle Hart, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada to complete the game.
That leaves very few options for tonight’s game. It’s incredibly likely that Griffin Canning will cover multiple innings once King departs the game. After Canning, Wandy Peralta is the first available to pitch in relief.
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