Padres Slug Their Way to Consecutive Series Wins

Apr 28, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher

(38) pitches against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The starting pitching was solid, as always. Even though Eric Stults got his major league leading 12th loss on Tuesday, he struck out 7 in 5 innings, allowing 3 runs. That’s almost a “quality start” by definition, just one inning short. Ian Kennedy was back to being Ian Kennedy on Wednesday, he went 6 innings and struck out 6, but he did walk 5. He is now third in the National League in strikeouts with 143. Tyson Ross pitched like an All-Star on Thursday, striking out a career-high 11 batters in 6 innings, only allowing 1 earned run. Not that it mattered, as he left with a cozy 12-1 lead. The downside to 11 strikeouts is the high pitch count, he had 104 after the sixth. He is now tied with Kennedy for 3rd in the NL in strikeouts.

The bullpen was not as “shut-down” as usual, allowing 5 runs and walking 2. Blaine Boyer and Tim Stauffer each had hiccups. In a normal series, the pitching staff allowing 12 runs would spell doom for the Padres. But 21 runs of support will certainly make those numbers look a lot better. Ross is easily the pitcher of the series with a dominant performance. He clearly overpowered the Cubs’ sub-par offense all night.