Week-In-Review: Padres Five Game Win Streak, Oh My!

Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

It was a good week for the San Diego Padres. Moving on from a month where their GM was fired, they played terribly, and they lost a legend; the Padres seem to be playing with nothing to lose. They started the week at home and swept the Cincinnati Reds, no easy task. Sure, they did it Monday with 1 hit, but a win is a win. That one also provided another showcase for newcomer Jesse Hahn, who pitched great and came out with another win despite only going 5 innings. He is now 4-2 with a 2.34 ERA after Sunday’s loss against the Giants.

With Everth Cabrera now back to the disabled list, once again the Padres’ find themselves with 60% of their starting infield on the disabled list. Cabrera joined Jedd Gyorko and Yonder Alonso. However, newcomers like Tommy Medica, Brooks Conrad, and Jake Goebbert are doing all they can to show their own worth for the rest of 2014 and 2015 as well.

Goebbert went into Sunday’s game hitting .353 with a couple of walks. He has struck out 5 times in 17 AB’s which would be nice to turn-around, but he has looked good. Seth Smith was locked up to a 2-year extension after a great first half of 2014, and I like this move by management. However, it also almost clearly shows their intent to trade some of their other outfielders like Chris Denorfia and maybe (hopefully?) even Carlos Quentin, hitting only .175 in 37 games played this season.

The Padres exploded in Tuesday’s win over the Reds, notching a season-high 16 hits and winning 8-2. Tyson Ross turned in his best performances of the season on Wednesday in a complete game 3 hit shutout against the Reds. The Padres won 3-0.

After an off-day Thursday, the struggling Giants came to town for the weekend. On Independence Day Eric Stults turned in his second consecutive quality outing and hopefully has turned a corner to have those major league leading losses stop piling up.  Seven strong innings allowing no runs and striking out six improved his record to 3-11 on the year, but the ERA creeping down to 4.96. Another couple starts like this will put him back into respectable territory.

Despaigne pitched another great game despite struggling with his command, turning in 6 innings for the third straight game, only allowing 2 hits and 1 run. As is typical with him it seems, he only struck out 2 but did walk 4 which hurt his pitch count and stopped him at 6 innings. Unfortunately, Huston Street‘s 22 consecutive save streak ended in the 9th when a Michael Morse home run tied the game up at 3. It was just Street’s 3rd earned run of the season. Dale Thayer fell victim to two more runs in the 10th and the Padres lost 5-3.

On Sunday it was that Tim Lincecum guy again, facing the Padres for the first time since his second no-hitter in two years against them. The Padres made a late rally but once again The Freak had their number.

All in all, it was a pretty good week for Padres’ baseball. New faces are stepping in for injuries or ineffectiveness, and with under a month to go until the trade deadline and still no general manager, there is still certainly a lot that will happen in the month of July. Until then, all you can ask is that the team keep playing ball and competing. Certainly that was the case this week. They have even climbed into third place but need a couple more 5 game win streaks and some luck to be back in consideration for any playoff position. One more until the All-Star Break, so the Padres hope to finish the first half strong.

Player of the Week:

Tyson Ross. He has really turned the corner this season and gotten some All-Star consideration. His complete game shutout was masterful, striking out 9 on 120 pitches. Kudos to Bud Black the former pitcher understanding what it meant for Tyson to finish the game too. Job well done.

Current Record: 39-49

Standings: 3rd place, 10 GB from the Dodgers/Giants