Padres Week in Review: May 4th-10th, Uneven Weeks Continue

May 10, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres outfielder

in the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Diamondbacks Series Recap

 The Padres left San Francisco and headed to Arizona for a 4 game series against Arizona. Apparently their hot bats from Wednesday got sent to Arizona’s dugout. Arizona destroyed Odrisamer Despaigne by rapping out 17 hits including 8 doubles and 2 home runs. Daniel Peralta led the way by going 4-5, with Cuban Yasmany Tomas also hitting 3-5 and catcher Tuffy Gosevich bringing in 4 RBI in the D-backs rout 11-0.  In relief Nick Vincent allowed 2 runs as well as a rare run allowed by Dale Thayer. Kevin Quackenbush was the only Padres pitcher who worked a scoreless inning. A pretty forgettable night for the Padres.

 In Game 2, Wil Myers started at first base after Yonder Alonso aggravated his wrist and went out with a 4-5 day including a home run to raise his average back up to .288. Will Venable started in his place in center field and went 3-5 himself and hit his third homer of the season in just 42 at-bats. It was certainly not Shield’s best outing of the season as he allowed 5 runs in 6 IP but he was able to get the offense to rally behind him and improve to 4-0 as the Padres hung on to win 6-5. Maurer, Joaquin Benoit and Craig Kimbrel each worked scoreless innings to finish things up, Kimbrel with his 9th save of the season despite a higher-than-normal 4.35 ERA.

 In probably the best game of the week for the Padres, Saturday pitted Tyson Ross against the Diamondbacks Chase Anderson who is off to a good start on the season with 4 quality starts in six tries despite an 0-1 record to show for his 2.97 ERA. Saturday Anderson would go 7 and only allow 1 runs, while Tyson would go 6 innings of his own and only allowing 2 runs. More importantly, for the second straight start he only walked 2 though once again was unable to go past 6 innings. The Padres would score two to take the lead in the 8th on several doubles by Jedd Gyorko, Solarte, and Derek Norris. In the top of the 9th, Justin Upton singled home the insurance run and it appeared that with Craig Kimbrel coming in the game should be over. However, we have discussed Kimbrel’s struggles this season and it showed Saturday. With 2 outs Danny Dorn doubled in two runs to tie the game before Kimbrel struck out Ender Inciarte to avoid the loss. In the 12th Justin Upton homered to give the Padres the lead again and Alexi Amarista added an RBI double. Kevin Quackenbush, who had already pitched the 11th, stayed in for the 12th to finish the job and close out the Padres win 6-4. It was a wild one in the desert but nice to come out on top.

  In Sunday’s finale Andrew Cashner was able to avoid unearned runs and pitched perhaps his best game of the year. He went 7 innings and just allowed 2 runs on 4 hits. Unfortunately, the Padres bats went back to sleep and only got 1 run in on the day. One controversial decision happened in the top of the 6th when the Padres loaded the bases with 2 outs. Cashner was pitching well, but Black elected to keep Cashner in to hit instead of pinch hitting for Matt Kemp. Cashner grounded out and the Padres never really threatened again. Admittedly, if Cashner gets a hit or the Padres do come back later, it is a good decision. It almost backfired after Cashner allowed runners to first and third in the 6th but was able to induce a double play to end the threat. Five Arizona pitchers kept the Padres at bay and the Arizona victory 2-1.

They were able to earn a split of the series but need to really start doing better against division rivals.

Next: Friar of the Week and Burning Questions