Padres Down Early, Can’t Avoid Cubs Sweep

The Padres went down by 3 in the first inning on Wednesday, and though Paul Clemens recovered the damage was done as the Cubs beat the Padres 6-3 at Petco Park.

The Padres couldn’t avoid the sweep and only managed six hits all day after only mustering 4 the day before against Cubs ace Jake Arrieta. This time it was Kyle Hendricks who quietly has the best ERA of the rotation and National League at 2.19. He allowed two runs in this one in exactly six innings of work. Aroldis Chapman picked up his second save of the series.

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Paul Clemens allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in 5 1/3 innings of work before Brad Hand allowed 1 run in 1 2/3 himself. Brandon Morrow pitched another inning of scoreless relief and has yet to allow a run with the Padres in his return. Brandon Maurer finished up the pitching for the Padres but it was too late. Can you imagine Morrow and Maurer finishing things out for the Padres next season? Perhaps.

Offensively Ryan Schimpf had a triple and double for the Padres and Travis Jankowski had two hits at the top of the order for the Padres. Wil Myers added a triple as well but overall has continued his funk even since returning home.

For the Cubs that guy again, Kris Bryant, went 2-4 and scored two runs while Wilson Contreras homered for the Cubs. Ben Zobrist tripled in two runs in the first inning.

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The Padres looked outnumbered and outmatched at nearly all points in this series. While Tuesday they managed a 9th inning rally, there wasn’t a lot of drama in this one as the Cubs just rolled on to victory. They now have 81 victories while the Padres have 74 losses and continue to fight to stay out of the National League West basement. While Atlanta seems destined to be the first team to be officially eliminated by the first week of September, the Padres are probably not much farther behind.

What is fun to see is the progress of the rookies on this year’s club. Schimpf, Jankowski, and Luis Perdomo have been positive signs to see.