Even With Good Pitching, Padres Lose Series

Aug 20, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Diego Padres outfielders Abraham Almonte (16), Will Venable and Rymer Liriano celebrate the Padres 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Where They Stand

The Padres now sit at 59-67, still in third place in the NL West. They are seven games ahead of their next opponent, the Diamondbacks and nine games ahead of the last place Rockies. The Padres just ran into some good pitching against the Dodgers and they could not quite pull out the series win. Offensively, the Padres have come a long way since their .214 batting average during the first half of the season. They now have their average all the way up to .227, the highest it has been in months.

A few Padres are seeing their averages rise. Seth Smith had 3 hits in the series, putting his average at .296, which leads the Padres by a comfortable margin. Jedd Gyorko is finally over the Mendoza line at .202. The newcomers of Yangervis Solarte and Almonte continue to contribute, as Solarte had 2 hits, an RBI and a run scored in the series. He is hitting .263 in 25 games since joining the Padres.

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The Friars did get some good news as they head to Arizona, Joaquin Benoit will not need to go onto the disabled list. The Padres should have a strong, rested bullpen going into their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, starting Friday.