San Diego Padres: Friars bats silenced in shutout loss to Cubs

The San Diego Padres went silently in the second of three games at Wrigley Field, dropping the contest to Mike Montgomery and the Cubs 4-0.

All sorts of controversy surrounded the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs as they played their second of three games at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. The uneasiness was caused by Anthony Rizzo‘s illegal slide the previous night into catcher Austin Hedges, injuring him and violating MLB rules in the process.

While the Padres took the high road and did not retaliate against Rizzo by any means, they weren’t able to come away with any sort of revenge in the form of a victory. In fact, with Rizzo leading off the bottom of the first with a home run, the night went poorly from the very beginning.

Besides the Rizzo homer, San Diego starter Jhoulys Chacin was fairly effective in six innings of work, as he surrendered just two runs on five hits and three walks, and struck out six.

The problem was the Friars’ offense, which pulled a disappearing act again. Credit Mike Montgomery, who silenced the bats through six innings as well as Chicago’s bullpen, which allowed just two hits in three total innings.

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But no part of the San Diego lineup had a productive evening. Surprisingly, catcher Luis Torrens, a Rule 5 pick, was able to record two hits, the only Padre with multiple knocks. The only other hits on the evening came from Hunter Renfroe, Jose Pirela, and Chacin.

The nine innings of scoreless baseball increases San Diego’s streak of scoreless innings to 15, dating back to Monday’s series opener.

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Something has to change, whether it is the lineup itself, or merely the approach of individual hitters. What is so frustrating for fans is how impressive some of the younger players such as Pirela or Franchy Cordero have been, but how Padre staples such as Wil Myers and Yangervis Solarte are no longer pulling their weight.

Most of all, the inexperienced Padres are so frustrating to watch because of how close they are to pulling it all together. The past two nights, it has been the pitching which has given the club ample opportunity to come away with more victories against the defending champions, a team that San Diego swept earlier in the season at Petco Park. Yet the offense was stymied, and the Padres can now only hope to avoid a sweep.

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Miguel Diaz and the Padres will look to salvage the series finale at Wrigley Field on Wednesday afternoon, before leaving the Windy City directly following the contest. First pitch is scheduled for 11:20 AM PT. The matinee can be seen on Fox Sports San Diego.