Fansided

Padres Recap: Padres Hit Four Homers

By Daryll Dorman |

Though mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the Padres still have games that need to be played. Four players who hope to represent core pieces of the Padres in 2016 had a hand in Sunday’s victory, with home runs coming from Matt Kemp, Jedd Gyorko, Cory Spangenberg, and Yangervis Solarte. James Shields picked up his 13th win of the season by allowing only one run through six innings before faltering in the 7th. The Padres won the game by the final score of 10-4.

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The Padres home run leaders for the second half are Kemp (15), Gyorko (13), Justin Upton (12) and Solarte (8). Justin still holds the season lead with 26 while Kemp leads the team in RBI with 98. Three of those four got into the act on Sunday which comes as no surprise playing in hitter friendly Coors Field.

What is encouraging has been the success of Gyorko, both offensively and being serviceable at shortstop as perhaps at least a better 2016 option than Clint Barmes and Alexi Amarista. That might open up the door for more playing time at second base for Spangenberg, who now has a season batting average of .264 and has better defensive prowess than Gyorko at the position.

In Sundays game though the Padres just had some fun. They scored at least one run in every inning through the 6th, knocking around Rockies starter Kyle Kendrick and his relief David Hale before going silent the final three innings.

On the other side of the mound after allowing a lead off home run to Charlie Blackmon, James Shields didn’t allow another hit until the 7th inning, retiring 19 of the next 21 hitters he faced with only two walks allowed in that time frame. Speaking of second halves, Shields improves to 6-3 in the second half with a 3.63 ERA compared to his season overall record of 13-6 and 3.83. He is now up to 196 IP so will pass the 200 IP mark in his next start. While his home run totals are cause for alarm, he certainly proved every bit to be the workhorse the Padres were paying the money for. He leads the team in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, and also unfortunately earned runs allowed.

The four home runs was the most the Padres have hit this season and most since September 14th last year against the Giants as reported by Corey Brock and Owen Perkins.

The Padres get Monday off before heading back home to San Diego to take on the Giants Tuesday night. Tyson Ross goes to the hill with a 10-10 record and will be opposed by veteran Tim Hudson of the Giants.

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