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As incredible as it might seem, after a terrible start to the season, the Padres have pulled themselves out of last place. The Padres shut out the Marlins on Monday evening, 5-0, while the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, so the team with the highest player payroll in the National League trails the Padres by a half-game.
San Diego scored a run in the first inning on a pop-up that was dropped by Marlins catcher Rob Brantly and Everth Cabrera scored the only run the Padres would need. Jedd Gyorko smacked his third home run of the season in the second inning for insurance, and the Padres added more as the game went on.
“My swing is starting to come along, starting to feel a lot better,” Gyorko told reporters after the game. “I’m seeing the ball pretty well for the most part, I just have to put more at-bats together. If my timing is right and my swing is on a plane, then hopefully that power can continue.”
Padres starter Andrew Cashner paved the way for the Padres to be able to take advantage of every opportunity they had offensively by shutting down all threats by the Marlins. Each club had only five hits, but the Padres made the most of theirs and Cashner pitched out of the tight spots in the early innings to get his second victory and even his record.
“After the third inning, I felt like I kind of bear down a little bit more. I made some pitches the first couple of innings when I needed to,” Cashner said after the game.
“That’s the longest I’ve ever gone in a major league start, so I definitely have some momentum there. I think if I execute pitches earlier in the game, then I think I’ll be able to pitch longer,” Andrew continued. “The biggest thing for me in the situation I’m in is having a solid routine every day. I haven’t been able to stay healthy and I think the biggest thing is to be able to stick with your routine, and changing things when I need to.”
Many fans – those who are more deeply involved in plans for Andrew Cashner’s future in the Padres organization – might have taken note on Monday, that he likely is more suited to be a starter than a reliever. Buddy Black certainly thinks so.
“Cash pitched well,” Buddy said. “I like the fact that he bounced back after a rough game last week in Chicago. He came back with a little bit of determination to prove that he’s more this type of pitcher than we saw last week.”
Indeed. And now that the Padres are out of the cellar of the National League West, perhaps the Padres will prove that they’re not the same team we’ve seen since the beginning of last month.
Notes:
No real news on injuries. Clayton Richard saw a doc today, but will see a specialist tomorrow. A Gastro-something-or-other, a mutually acceptable conclusion reached in the clubhouse before game time. More on this tomorrow after the fact.
Tuesday, Eric Stults (2-2, 5.08) will go for the Friars, facing Alex Sanabia (2-4, 4.67) for the Fish. Game time is at 7:10 PM PDST, radio 1090 AM and televised on Fox Sports San Diego. There will likely be more folks in the park Tuesday than on Monday. Actually, there couldn’t easily be any less, regardless of announced attendance. Apparently, Marlins fans don’t travel well, and neither do Padres fans in the rain.
As incredible as it might seem, after a terrible start to the season, the Padres have pulled themselves out of last place. The Padres shut out the Marlins on Monday evening, 5-0, while the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, so the team with the highest player payroll in the National League trails the Padres by a half-game.
San Diego scored a run in the first inning on a pop-up that was dropped by Marlins catcher Rob Brantly and Everth Cabrera scored the only run the Padres would need. Jedd Gyorko smacked his third home run of the season in the second inning for insurance, and the Padres added more as the game went on.
“My swing is starting to come along, starting to feel a lot better,” Gyorko told reporters after the game. “I’m seeing the ball pretty well for the most part, I just have to put more at-bats together. If my timing is right and my swing is on a plane, then hopefully that power can continue.”
Padres starter Andrew Cashner paved the way for the Padres to be able to take advantage of every opportunity they had offensively by shutting down all threats by the Marlins. Each club had only five hits, but the Padres made the most of theirs and Cashner pitched out of the tight spots in the early innings to get his second victory and even his record.
“After the third inning, I felt like I kind of bear down a little bit more. I made some pitches the first couple of innings when I needed to,” Cashner said after the game.
“That’s the longest I’ve ever gone in a major league start, so I definitely have some momentum there. I think if I execute pitches earlier in the game, then I think I’ll be able to pitch longer,” Andrew continued. “The biggest thing for me in the situation I’m in is having a solid routine every day. I haven’t been able to stay healthy and I think the biggest thing is to be able to stick with your routine, and changing things when I need to.”
Many fans – those who are more deeply involved in plans for Andrew Cashner’s future in the Padres organization – might have taken note on Monday, that he likely is more suited to be a starter than a reliever. Buddy Black certainly thinks so.
“Cash pitched well,” Buddy said. “I like the fact that he bounced back after a rough game last week in Chicago. He came back with a little bit of determination to prove that he’s more this type of pitcher than we saw last week.”
Indeed. And now that the Padres are out of the cellar of the National League West, perhaps the Padres will prove that they’re not the same team we’ve seen since the beginning of last month.
Notes:
No real news on injuries. Clayton Richard saw a doc today, but will see a specialist tomorrow. A Gastro-something-or-other, a mutually acceptable conclusion reached in the clubhouse before game time. More on this tomorrow after the fact.
Tuesday, Eric Stults (2-2, 5.08) will go for the Friars, facing Alex Sanabia (2-4, 4.67) for the Fish. Game time is at 7:10 PM PDST, radio 1090 AM and televised on Fox Sports San Diego. There will likely be more folks in the park Tuesday than on Monday. Actually, there couldn’t easily be any less, regardless of announced attendance. Apparently, Marlins fans don’t travel well, and neither do Padres fans in the rain.