Pathetic Padres Fall to Giants in 10-1 Laugher
O’Sullivan lost his first career start with the Padres. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY
I think that I can speak for all Padres fans when I say that the last two weeks have been almost unbearable to watch from a baseball perspective. The fact that San Diego has lost 13 of their last 14 games is nothing short of ridiculous when one considers this current era of parity-driven sports. At this point though, I’m taking a “Ron Burgundy-stance” on the Padres’ recent woes in the respect that “I’m not even mad, that’s amazing.”
Sadly, the “disaster train” kept on rolling tonight as the Giants beat the PCL-clad Friars by a score of 10-1.
Before I get into the numerous negatives, let me say that it was a shame that starter Sean O’Sullivan did not pick up his first big league victory as a member of the Padres. The San Diego native pitched well in his spot start as he only allowed two runs during his five innings of work. Although the right-hander took the loss, the blame for tonight’s defeat rests squarely with the Padres’ hitters and bullpen.
Words simply cannot explain how hapless San Diego’s hitters are at this point in the season, and “pathetic” might be too nice of an adjective to describe their collective performance tonight. Outside of Chase Headley‘s run-scoring double in the first inning, the Friars were completely and totally shut down by San Francisco’s pitching staff during the rest of the game.
To be fair, the Padres were actually still in the game before the top of the sixth began. Trailing only 2-1, San Diego’s bullpen could have stopped the bleeding after O’Sullivan was removed from the game prior to the inning. Unfortunately, the usually reliable Tim Stauffer allowed the Giants to extend their lead to 5-1 after Marco Scutaro and Buster Posey hit run scoring singles.
Probably the best example of San Diego’s offensive incompetence occurred in the bottom of the sixth though. After the Padres loaded the bases and ran alleged “hospital groper” Chad Gaudin from the game before he could record an out in the frame, it looked as if San Diego could chip away at San Francisco’s 5-1 lead.
Yonder Alonso meekly flied out to Brandon Crawford, Jedd Gyorko struck out, and Chris Denorfia struck out too! Bases loaded, zero outs, and the Padres could not even record one productive out to plate a single run! Watching that ridiculousness unfold was like seeing the definition of “incompetence” come to life.
The Padres rolled over in the next inning when the Giants led a hit parade over San Diego’s bullpen for a total of five runs. Bud Black was actually tossed in that inning after Headley apparently “interfered” with the progress of Kensuke Tanaka between second and third during a run down. By the time the hellish top of the seventh was over though, the Giants had taken a 10-1 and the game was essentially finished.
In my opinion, Black got off easy because he didn’t have to watch the rest of the game like the rest of us.
Final Thoughts
At this point, I just hope that the Friars can avoid reaching the 100 loss mark by the end of the regular season. I understand that the team would have to lose 47 of their final 68 games, but the way this team is playing now I would say that 100 losses could be on the horizon for San Diego unless they can get their collective acts together.
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