Talented youngsters and big-ticket free agents.
That’s the combination the Padres were hoping would help them start playing consistently winning baseball in 2019. On Sunday afternoon the elixir worked like a charm.
Rookie Chris Paddack was really good in his Major League debut and veterans Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado backed him up with timely RBI in a 3-1 win that also gave San Diego a 3-1 series win over the visiting San Francisco Giants.
The biggest question for the Padres entering the 2019 season was their starting pitching. Through the first four games of said 2019 season the thing that’s worked best for the Padres is its starting pitching. Padres starting pitchers have gone 21.1 innings and allowed two earned runs.
Rookie Chris Paddack made his highly anticipated Major League debut and showed off the kind of swing-and-miss stuff that made him the Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season. He didn’t get the win but he sure did have a lot to say about the win.
Paddack struck out seven and only walked one in 5.0 innings. He allowed two hits and one run, on a double by Pablo Sandoval that came on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.
For a moment he was on the hook for the loss but Hosmer helped him out with 2-out single to score Franchy Cordero in the bottom of the 5th and tie the game 1-1. The Friars took the lead in the 7th inning. Valhalla High School alum Greg Garcia doubled down the left field line to move Hunter Renfroe to 3rd base with one out. Giants manager Bruce Bochy elected to intentionally walk Hosmer to face Machado with the bases loaded.
Manny hit a soft grounder to shortstop Brandon Crawford, who tried to turn a double play but Machado busted his tail down the first base line to beat the relay and allow Renfroe to score for a 2-1 Padres lead. Austin Hedges added an RBI single in the 8th inning to give closer Kirby Yates a little breathing room, although he didn’t need it in a perfect 9th inning to notch his 3rd save of the season.
At 3-1 the Padres are tied for first place in the National League West with the reigning N.L. champion Dodgers. On Monday the Friars open a 3-game set at Petco Park against the Diamondbacks (the team that Los Angeles just beat three out of four) with lefty Matt Strahm on the mound.
