San Diego Padres: Impressive week as Friars top the Dodgers

San Diego Padres fans had many concerns last week when previewing their series against the first-place Dodgers. After playing four Major League Baseball games in under 60 hours, San Diego has many positives to come out of this weekend.

Kershaw is Back

First off, losing 1-0 to Clayton Kershaw is nothing to be disappointed in. Dinelson Lamet pitched absolutely fantastic on Friday night. Lamet struck out ten dodgers in six strong innings, while giving up only one earned run. Lamet’s slider looked electric on Friday, embarrassing some of the best hitters in baseball. Unfortunately, Kershaw pitched a little bit better.

Saturday Double Header

Saturday was a great day to be a Padres fan. In game one of the double header, Clayton Richard was not intimidated by the Dodgers at all, giving up only three runs in six innings.  After a very exciting back and forth game with clutch RBI’s from Will Myers and Cory Spangenberg, San Diego had a two-run lead going into the top of the ninth. This was followed up by a Justin Turner two-run blast to tie the game, setting the stage for an epic walk-off homer by Yangervis Solarte in the bottom of the ninth.

More from Friars on Base

• Jurickson Profar free agency update likely rules out Padres reunion
• Fernando Tatis Jr. may not take to outfield move after Xander Bogaerts addition
• Padres News: Fernando Tatis Jr. trade rumors, Seth Lugo chase, Manny Machado
• Padres barely missed out on high-end veteran starting pitcher
• This veteran DH target seems ideal for contending Padres roster

In the second game of the double header, San Diego faced powerful Dodgers right-hander Yu Darvish, and handed him the shortest start of his career. Darvish gave up five earned runs in only three innings. In his first game back in six weeks, shortstop Erick Aybar went 3-4 and scored two runs. San Diego also had multiple RBI games from Matt Szczur and Hector Sanchez.

Impressive Military Sunday

Sunday’s matchup was also no easy task for the Padres. San Diego faced Cy Young candidate Alex Wood(14-1). Erick Aybar cranked a two-run shot in the fourth inning to give the Padres a 3-2 lead. Will Myers also capped off a solid weekend with a two-run single to cushion the Padres lead in the seventh. Jhoulys Chachín continued his impressive 2017 campaign, giving up only two earned runs and striking out eight over seven innings. Brad Hand got his 15th save of the season to secure the series win over Los Angeles.

Next: Relief pitching decisions

Recap

The Padres showed serious potential in beating the best team in baseball this weekend. With playoff hopes gone, playing the spoiler in September would give San Diego some positive momentum going into 2018.