Padres Week That Was: Wasted Opportunity Leads to Disappointing First Half Finish

Don’t Blame Ian Kennedy for the Padres Poor Week. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

I wrote optimistically when the week began that the Padres could end the week within 7 games of first place.

Of course that was assuming they would take two of three in Colorado because the bats would come alive. That was assuming that they could plate a few runs and continue the good pitching against the Dodgers and actually win the series. Well, you know what they say about assuming…

If the Padres had a dollar for every game they only allowed 3 runs and still lost – they would be rich. They could probably even afford David Price this off season. After a good burst of offense in Monday’s 6-1 win, Charlie Blackmon‘s home run did in Tyson Ross and the Padres on Tuesday as they lost 2-1. One dollar.Wednesday they lost 6-3 and Joaquin Benoit struggled uncharacteristically to get the loss.

Yet the next four games is what really defined this week. They headed to Los Angeles with the pitching staff situated pretty well. Odrisamer Despaigne, Jesse Hahn, Ian Kennedy, and Tyson Ross all ready to go. Unfortunately, Odrisamer had to go against Clayton Kershaw in the opener of the series, but the rest of the series projected nicely for the Padres. The 2-1 loss was tough ($2), but considering that Kershaw hadn’t allowed a SINGLE RUN in about 40 innings was understandable. Good to see Mr. Despaigne striking out a few more hitters with 7 K’s in 7 innings.

Chase Headley continues to tear the cover off the ball in July, as he added another home run and is up to 7 on the year. Friday the bats came alive and the bullpen was able to hang on to win the game 6-3. Important to note however is that Benoit did struggle again, loading the bases in the 8th before striking out the last two in the inning. Yasiel Puig also helped in the 7th, adding another video to his low light clip of base running blunders.

Saturday though was the toughest of all. Ian Kennedy pitched another absolute gem. Eight innings of work. Zero runs allowed. Yet, the Padres could not score at all against Zack Greinke, no, scratch that, against PAUL MAHOLM. Kevin Quackenbush came in for the 9th and promptly lost the game. Three dollars.

Sunday, Tyson Ross made his last start before the All-Star Game, which he made but will not pitch in because of this start. Once more, he pitched 7 strong innings, allowing 1 run, and got the loss. Pathetic. In one week I would be $4 richer! Not a good thing.

It was another week of what-if’s and “If only..” for the San Diego Padres, and with just two weeks left until the trade deadline, certainly some major changes should be expected for this ball club. Street? Headley? Benoit? Denorfia? The chips have to fall somewhere, and if the Padres did have a chance at all at coming back into some sort of playoff race, this week took them a major step backwards.

As the pitching future is being developed before our very eyes in Jesse Hahn and Odrisamer Despaigne, Padres fans are still waiting for the offensive minor league prospects to start coming through. Pitching is certainly not the problem right now.

Player of the Week:

Ian Kennedy. His stats this week? 15 IP, 17K, 2 ER, 7 Hits. Nice done. He is 1-0, but should easily be 2-0. He is having a great July and it will be interesting to see if a contender takes a chance on him away from Petco as a 4th or 5th starter.

Current Record: 41-54

Standings: 12 GB First Place Dodgers, 3rd place.