Padres Slug Their Way to Consecutive Series Wins

Jul 23, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs left fielder

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The Padres (45-56) hit and walked their way to a series win against the Chicago Cubs (41-59) this week. It was their second straight series win, marking the first time that has happened since September of last year. The Cubs pitching staff certainly helped along the way, giving the Padres 19 free passes in the 3 games, including a whopping 11 on Wednesday. The Padres showed patience that we have not seen lately and it paid off in many baserunners and many runs. The Padres burned through the Cubs bullpen, making them pitch 11 innings of relief in the 3-game series. The fatigue of the Chicago bullpen could have contributed to the blowout, Thursday.

The Padres as a team hit .260 with 7 extra base hits. With 21 runs scored in the 2 wins, the Padres only hit one home run. The swirling winds of Wrigley certainly played a part in that. The Padres seemingly got contributions from everyone, pitchers and hitters alike. It was a great team effort. If the Padres could have plate appearances like they had the last 2 games of this series, their current record could easily be the reverse. For once, there are many to choose from for offensive player of the series.

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.

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.

Jul 19, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres catcher Rene Rivera (44) singles during the third inning against the New York Mets at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Some of the Padres numbers offensively look a lot better after this series. Seth Smith’s average is now at .293, which is almost 50 points higher than the next Padre who has played in more than 60 games. Venable went from .208 to .215 , Tommy Medica went from .226 to .240 and the team average is now at .216, which is the highest it has been in a while. Another sight for sore eyes is the amount of “crooked numbers,” or multiple runs, the Padres put up in several innings. The Padres scored 2 or more runs in 5 different innings, including a 9-spot in the sixth inning of the 13-3 rout on Thursday. The last time the Padres scored 9 runs in an inning was in July of 2011 against the Marlins. They also sent 15 batters to the plate in that inning, which is the most in 7 years.

The Padres just looked more confident at the plate in this series. The at-bats were longer and more fundamentally sound. Everyone seemed to be a little more relaxed and patient at the plate, and it paid off over and over. The 11 walks drawn in Wednesday’s 8-3 win were the most in 2 years. It would be naive and unrealistic to expect these numbers from the Padres on a consistent basis, but something has to be said about how this will affect the confidence of the offense moving forward.