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What the Padres didn’t do well as a unit on Friday, they excelled at Saturday, even if the bats weren’t as prolific as they would have wanted. Utilizing only four hits, and going 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position, the Padres still managed a 3-1 victory against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Padres starter Tyson Ross was excellent, and getting staked to a 2-0 lead certainly didn’t hurt. Neither did the errors by the Reds. Chris Denorfia singled and Will Venable drove Denorfia in thanks in part to an error by Xavier Paul.
Venable then scored when Reds third baseman Jack Hannahan threw the ball away on a Chase Headley ground ball. And the Padres defense returned to form, an example here in the first inning from second baseman Jedd Gyorko:
Gyorko made an excellent diving catch and threw out the runner at first, keeping another runner from scoring, but Ross allowed a run to cross anyway, and the Padres carried that 2-1 lead on throughout the game. This held up until Will Venable stepped into the batter’s box in the top of the eighth inning and did this:
http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=29598375
Venable's solo home run was his team-leading 15th of the season. Luke Gregerson took over for Ross in the bottom of the eighth inning and then Huston Street came on for the save. Saturday was Padres baseball, it’s the way the team was designed to play.
What you saw was good defense and good pitching. Manager Buddy Black might have set a record for brevity in his post-game press conference, but his words were on the mark.
“We’ve been talking about our defense being consistent all year. I thought our infield play was spectacular, starting with Jedd in the first inning, I thought Logan [Forsythe] had a nice night at short,” Buddy said.
It was a tight ball game, other than the four errors by the Reds. Both squads had four hits, and the Reds struck out ten times while the Padres whiffed nine but Venable had two hits to go along with Chris Denorfia and Yonder Alonso having a hit each, so there’s that.
You have to smile a little bit when the Padres win like this, because this is how the team is built. But in order to do any sort of real damage, the bats will need to come alive because that’s how baseball is built.
Notes:
Padres first round draft pick in 2013, Hunter Renfroe, made the most of his debut in low-A Fort Wayne on Saturday. Renfroe batted third and went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. Also notable in the minors, Reymond Fuentes went 2 for 3 in his AAA debut and Keyvius Sampson pitched six strong innings to get the win for Tucson. Kevin Quackenbush continues to get the hang of the Pacific Coast League, striking out two in the one inning he pitched. Quackenbush could be closer material in the future, it’s best to keep an eye on him.
Sunday, the Padres wrap up the series with the Reds, sending Ian Kennedy (4-8, 5.14) to the mound to face Mike Leake (10-5, 2.94) of the Reds. Game time is 10:10 AM (have those Bloody Marys handy) and can be heard on radio 1090 AM and seen on Fox Sports San Diego. It’s in the mid-80’s in the ‘natti, and with that humidity, take your parasol.
What the Padres didn’t do well as a unit on Friday, they excelled at Saturday, even if the bats weren’t as prolific as they would have wanted. Utilizing only four hits, and going 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position, the Padres still managed a 3-1 victory against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Padres starter Tyson Ross was excellent, and getting staked to a 2-0 lead certainly didn’t hurt. Neither did the errors by the Reds. Chris Denorfia singled and Will Venable drove Denorfia in thanks in part to an error by Xavier Paul.
Venable then scored when Reds third baseman Jack Hannahan threw the ball away on a Chase Headley ground ball. And the Padres defense returned to form, an example here in the first inning from second baseman Jedd Gyorko:
Gyorko made an excellent diving catch and threw out the runner at first, keeping another runner from scoring, but Ross allowed a run to cross anyway, and the Padres carried that 2-1 lead on throughout the game. This held up until Will Venable stepped into the batter’s box in the top of the eighth inning and did this:
http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=29598375
Venable's solo home run was his team-leading 15th of the season. Luke Gregerson took over for Ross in the bottom of the eighth inning and then Huston Street came on for the save. Saturday was Padres baseball, it’s the way the team was designed to play.
What you saw was good defense and good pitching. Manager Buddy Black might have set a record for brevity in his post-game press conference, but his words were on the mark.
“We’ve been talking about our defense being consistent all year. I thought our infield play was spectacular, starting with Jedd in the first inning, I thought Logan [Forsythe] had a nice night at short,” Buddy said.
It was a tight ball game, other than the four errors by the Reds. Both squads had four hits, and the Reds struck out ten times while the Padres whiffed nine but Venable had two hits to go along with Chris Denorfia and Yonder Alonso having a hit each, so there’s that.
You have to smile a little bit when the Padres win like this, because this is how the team is built. But in order to do any sort of real damage, the bats will need to come alive because that’s how baseball is built.
Notes:
Padres first round draft pick in 2013, Hunter Renfroe, made the most of his debut in low-A Fort Wayne on Saturday. Renfroe batted third and went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. Also notable in the minors, Reymond Fuentes went 2 for 3 in his AAA debut and Keyvius Sampson pitched six strong innings to get the win for Tucson. Kevin Quackenbush continues to get the hang of the Pacific Coast League, striking out two in the one inning he pitched. Quackenbush could be closer material in the future, it’s best to keep an eye on him.
Sunday, the Padres wrap up the series with the Reds, sending Ian Kennedy (4-8, 5.14) to the mound to face Mike Leake (10-5, 2.94) of the Reds. Game time is 10:10 AM (have those Bloody Marys handy) and can be heard on radio 1090 AM and seen on Fox Sports San Diego. It’s in the mid-80’s in the ‘natti, and with that humidity, take your parasol.