Padres Drop Series to Giants, Bats Subdued

April 29, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Eric Stults (53, right) reacts next to catcher Nick Hundley (4, left) after giving up a double to San Francisco Giants left fielder Michael Morse (38, not pictured) during the first inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Padres fell to the Giants in Wednesday night’s finale 3-2. The Padres won the first game of the series with an offensive outburst from Rene Rivera, then the bats were silenced by Yusmeiro Petit on Tuesday. Wednesday, the Padres waited too long to get the offense going. Yasmani Grandal ended up having a decent night, going 2-for-4 with his 2nd home run of 2014 and a double. As a collective unit, the Padres’ offense was less than stellar. During the series, San Diego had a .172 average. The Padres had two home runs in the series, oddly enough by two of the catchers on the roster.

The story of the series was the continuing struggles of the back-end of the Padres’ rotation. Eric Stults couldn’t even get out of the 3rd inning, surrendering 5 earned runs with 2 home runs and 2 walks. Robbie Erlin struggled early but finished nicely, however it was too little too late. Even in the lone victory of the series, Tyson Ross wasn’t himself. He allowed 4 earned runs and a home run in 5.1 innings. Collectively, the starters totaled 14.2 innings, 12 earned runs and 5 walks. That’s a 7.36 ERA. Losing the series was not completely due to the lack of a consistent offense.

All in all, it was a sub-par series. The Padres are now at 13-16, 4.5 games back of the Giants. We always must find the silver lining. Jedd Gyorko (congrats to the new dad) and Seth Smith returned from their leaves of absence and Jace Peterson got another hit and stolen base in his first major league week. The Friars head back to good ol’ San Diego to start a new homestand. Hopefully a little home cookin’ can get the Padres back to .500 and beyond.