The San Diego Padres did just about everything to lose Game 1 against the New York Mets yesterday evening. The Friars made four outs at the plate in just the first two innings, which seemed to stymie their offense for the rest of the game. Two were bad sends by third base coach Bob Henley, the third was a force out at home plate and the final came when Xander Bogaerts ran through a stop sign from Henley.
San Diego scored a run on a sac fly by Fernando Tatis Jr. in the second inning. That would be all their offense would muster in an uncharacteristically cold night for the swingin’ Friars. They were unable to back up starter Walker Buehler’s fantastic outing. The Padres will need a little bit more from their bats tonight to force the rubber game.
Taking the mound
Robbie Ray (NYM) v. Zac Thorton (SD)
Through eight starts made this season, Thornton has looked shockingly good. His 2.78 ERA is fantastic even if the underlying metrics tell a slightly different story. His .230 opponent batting average and 1.10 WHIP are slightly higher but still solid. The WHIP mark is mostly due to an above-average number of walks.
Thornton is just getting his feet wet in the majors on a Mets club that is looking to find any success it can this year. The rookie has pitched extraordinarily well through 45 1/3 innings and will look to follow that up against the indomitable second-half Padres’ offense.
Since joining the Padres, Ray has looked every bit as the starter that General Manager A.J. Preller traded for. In his first two appearances with the club, Ray owns a 6.00 ERA. That seems to contradict what I just said, but Ray just twirled a two-run outing versus the Milwaukee Brewers. The high ERA is more due to the four runs Ray surrendered to the Houston Astros in his Friars debut.
Prior to joining the Padres, Ray was having a career year with the San Francisco Giants, pitching to a 3.08 ERA. San Diego traded for the veteran lefty to bolster their starting rotation, and he’s done just that. Hopefully, he’ll be able to bounce back against New York tonight.
Batter up!
Last night was uncharacteristic for the Friars. After scoring an average of 4.9 runs per game in their last ten contests, the Padres managed just one measly run against New York. Starter Nolan McLean settled in for six frames after allowing an abundance of traffic in the first two innings. San Diego will need more from their bats tonight.
The lineup has been potent lately. Tatis and Merrill have been downright unstoppable (until last night). If they can regain that form tonight, it’ll be easy for the Friars to force the rubber match in Game 3. Otherwise, Ray will have to truly shove to eke out a Padres victory.
Relief corps
The bullpen got saved in a major way last night. Buehler went six fantastic innings before Kyle Hart took over and covered the final two frames surprisingly well. That’s not to say that Hart didn’t have it in him, but his stuff has been a little all over the place lately.
That allows the Padres to get creative if Ray struggles early tonight. Griffin Canning, Jeremiah Estrada, Yuki Matsui, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez will all be available out of the ‘pen. Canning should feature in bulk relief if Ray doesn’t have his stuff. Hopefully, that won’t be the case and Miller will be there to close out a San Diego win.
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