Padres Slug Their Way to Consecutive Series Wins

Apr 5, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder

(12) at bat against the Miami Marlins during their game at Marlins Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Seth Smith gets my nod for offensive player of the series, but there were many other worthy candidates. He had 5 hits and 2 RBI in the series, including 3 hits in Thursday’s win. Will Venable had 4 hits, Rene Rivera andChris Nelson both had 3 RBI. 13 different Padres players recorded a hit in the series. The main story was the coming out parties for Yangervis Solarte and Jeff Francoeur. Solarte’s first at-bat was an RBI triple and then he scored on a Carlos Quentin sac fly. He finished the series with 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored. Francoeur nearly missed 2 home runs in his first game on Wednesday, but they were knocked down by the intense winds of the Windy City. He had a hit, 2 walks, a run scored and an RBI.

In the two wins in the series, the Padres were 11 for 29 with runners in scoring position, which is a .379 average. On the surface it just looked like the Cubs were serving up the runs more than the Padres were driving in, but that was not the case. Many Padres hitters came through in the clutch to drive runs in.