Missed Opportunities Plus Corey Dickerson Doom Padres in 4-2 Loss

Although he pitched well, Cashner took the “loss” this afternoon. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Padres came into today’s game looking to win the rubber-match of their three-game series with the Rockies.   Make no mistake; the Friars had plenty of chances to seize this afternoon’s contest.  Sadly, missed opportunities were what highlighted San Diego’s 4-2 loss to Colorado in the series-finale.

San Diego’s starters continued their trend of allowing early-inning runs again today, and it was Troy Tulowitzki and Corey Dickerson who ruined an otherwise solid start by Andrew Cashner.  Colorado’s shortstop started the scoring when he doubled home Dickerson after the left fielder reached with a two out-double in the bottom of the first.

Then Dickerson came back to bite the Friars again in the bottom of the third when he smacked a run-scoring triple to put the Rockies ahead 2-1.  Tulowitzki followed the triple with another run-scoring single, and Colorado increased their lead to 3-1.

To his credit, Cashner did a solid job to keep his team in the game.  Overall, the right-hander worked seven innings and only allowed the three runs on six hits.  Sadly, those three runs were all that the Rockies would need.

The Friars’ hitters did their best to counter Colorado’s early offensive surges in the tops of the third and fourth.  Ronny Cedeno, who led off the third with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cashner, tied the game at 1-1 when came around to score after a two-out single by Chris Denorfia.

Jesus Guzman then inched the Padres closer in the top of the fourth with a run-scoring single that pulled the Padres within one run at 3-2.  Those two runs were all that the Friars could score though, and they wasted numbers of opportunities to break through against Jorge De La Rosa.

What happened in the top of the sixth was a perfect example of how things went for the Padres this afternoon and have gone all season long for San Diego.  With runners on first and third with no outs, Logan Forsythe hit into a fielder’s choice that caused Jedd Gyorko tagged out in a rundown.

Worst of all was the fact that Guzman was tagged out by Yorvit Torrealba trying to advance to third on the play!  If there was one play which could perfectly illustrate how inept the Padres have been in those types of situations, I would nominate this one for the top spot.

San Diego still had a chance to come back when the eighth inning rolled around, but Dickerson promptly gave the Rockies a commanding 4-2 lead when he doubled in an important insurance run.  Colorado’s left fielder enjoyed a monster game this afternoon and notched two doubles, one triple, two runs, and two runs batted.

Down by two runs, the Padres could not muster a ninth inning rally and the game ended 4-2 in favor of the Rockies.

Final Thoughts

Thankfully for the Padres, they no longer have to play at Coors Field anymore for the rest of the 2013 regular season.  Kudos must go to the Rockies though for taking advantage of their opportunities when they presented themselves.  They made things happen with men on base today more often than the Padres, and the final score is indicative of that very thing.

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