It was a scary one, but the San Diego Padres ended it with their eighth consecutive win. Facing the Colorado Rockies in their series opener on Monday night, the Friars got off to an early lead. San Diego scored six runs by the third inning, holding a five-lead over the Rox. Then, it happened. The Padres gave up a run in the fifth, then three in the sixth.
That made it a one-run ballgame before the Friars scored in the top of the seventh. Then they surrendered another run in the bottom of the frame. They played the same cat-and-mouse game in the eighth before Mason Miller slammed the door in the ninth inning. San Diego’s bullpen has looked worse for wear lately. Thankfully, the offense has picked up the slack. They’ll need that latter trend to continue (and the former to stop) to keep their win streak going.
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Taking the mound
Kyle Freeland (COL) v. Walker Buehler (SD)
Freeland has had a solid season with the Rockies, despite his seemingly dismal 6.37 ERA. He’s been much better down the stretch. In his last seven games, the left-hander owns a 4.25 ERA with 33 strikeouts in his last 42 1/3 innings. Command has been a slight problem, with 10 walks in that time.
Historically, the Friars have owned Freeland. Xander Bogaerts and Ty France each have 10-plus career at-bats versus him and own a .462 and .364 batting average, respectively. Manny Machado has faced Freeland 54 times in his illustrious career. The third baseman owns a ridiculous .315 batting average and .837 OPS versus the lefty.
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Buehler has downright dominated lately. In his last seven starts, the righty has pitched to a 2.88 ERA (34.1 IP). His major problem has been working deep into games. Buehler made it through just 2 1/3 innings in his last start versus the Washington Nationals. Some of that was due to a miscue by manager Craig Stammen, forcing Buehler to exit the game early.
Other than that, Buehler has given up two runs or less in every start he’s made since August 6. He’s surrendered three runs or less in every starts since July 21. It’s been a dominant stretch for Buehler, who has truly buoyed the San Diego rotation this season.
Batter up!
Thank goodness the offense has been white-hot lately, because the Friars are barely staying in games even when they do score seven runs. In their last four games, San Diego has scored 27 runs for an average of 6.25 runs per game. If the Padres continue raking, they won’t have any problems retaining their playoff spot.
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The Padres’ stars have been fantastic lately. Between Machado, Merrill and Tatis, the trio has looked so confident in the box. Merrill was just named the NL Player of the Week after an especially hot stretch at the plate. The center fielder has gone 15-for-30 with a 1.467 OPS in his last seven games.
Relief corps
Casey Mize pitched a very solid five innings before Kyle Hart came on in relief. Hart immediately attempted to give up the game, surrendering three runs and only recording a single out. Bradgley Rodriguez came on and finished the sixth before pitching the seventh. Apart from a solo shot, the rookie reliever looked good on the mound. Adrian Morejon and Miller closed out the game.
Hopefully Miller is alright. While pitching, he was struck on the leg by a comebacker. It seemed like he was alright since he immediately recorded the final two outs by striking out Mickey Moniak and inducing a groundout from Adael Amador. For Game 2 tonight, the Friars have Griffin Canning, Yuki Matsui, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Randy Vásquez available.
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