ICYMI: Padres Fall After Bullpen Can’t Hold Lead

The Padres took a tough loss in Game One of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants, falling 9-8 after the bullpen could not hold a two-run lead. The Padres’ starter Andrew Cashner, struggled in his final start of 2014, only going 5 innings, giving up 6 runs, on 8 hits, while walking 1, and striking out 4, Giants’ batters. The Giants’ starter Yusmeiro Petit, took the mound for the Giants, and had a fairly better start than Cashner, as he went 5.1 innings, giving up 3 runs, on 5 hits, while walking 1, and striking out 8 Padre batters.

More from Padres News

• Jurickson Profar free agency update likely rules out Padres reunion
• Fernando Tatis Jr. may not take to outfield move after Xander Bogaerts addition
• Padres News: Fernando Tatis Jr. trade rumors, Seth Lugo chase, Manny Machado
• Padres barely missed out on high-end veteran starting pitcher
• This veteran DH target seems ideal for contending Padres roster

The Giants struck early and often against Cashner. The Giants scoring all started in the 1st inning, when Joe Panik singled and was brought home on a Pablo Sandoval sacrifice fly, and this gave the Giants 1-0 lead in the 1st. The Giants would score again in the 2nd, when Brandon Belt hit a solo home run to put the Giants up 2-0.

The Giants would continue the scoring in the 3rd inning, when Buster Posey doubled to bring in Gregor Blanco to put the Giants up by 3. The next batter, Sandoval singled to bring in Posey, and this put the Giants up 4-0 in the third inning. The 4th inning would bring yet another run to the scoreboard for the Giants, when Brandon Crawford homered to push the Giant lead to 5-0. The 5th inning brought one more to the board for the Giants, when Sandoval singled to bring in Posey, and that brought a 6-run lead at the end of 5 innings.

The Swinging Friars weren’t about to go down without putting up a fight though, and in the 6th they struck. The Padre rally started when Will Venable hit a two-run home run with a runner on first base, to cut the Giant lead to 6-2. Two batters later, Yasmani Grandal hit a solo home run to cut the deficit even further, the Giants’ lead was only 3 by the end of the 6th. The Friars weren’t done yet, and in the 7th, Grandal struck again with the bases loaded. He hit a grand slam to put the Friars in front 7-6. The next batter, Rene Rivera pitched in as well, with a homer of his own, to put the Padres up by 2.

However in the bottom of the 7th, the Padre bullpen couldn’t hold the lead, and the Giants fought back. Sandoval hurt the Padres for the third time of the game, with a single to cut the Padre lead to 1. Then Belt singled to bring in another Giant run and the game was then tied at this point. The last strike of the game came from the Giants on a sacrifice fly by Matt Duffy to put the Giants in front 9-8, and that ended up being the final of the game.

The Padres will look for a better pitching performance from starter Ian Kennedy as he goes tonight for the Padres. He is (12-13) with a 3.76 ERA. The Giants will counter with Ryan Vogelsong, who is (8-12) with a 3.96 ERA. The game starts at 7:15 PM PDT from AT&T Park.

Keep the Faith.