San Diego Padres: Positives to Take Away from Last Night’s Loss

The San Diego Padres lost a heartbreaker last night. But there were just too many positives to take away from their 1-0 loss to the Houston Astros to let one embarrassing play ruin the progress that was made.

Let’s be clear. The San Diego Padres’ loss last night was excruciatingly painful. Eric Hosmer botching a play that he makes 999 times out of a thousand, in the spot that it came in, against the team that it came against, was a tough pill to swallow.

There’s no denying that we were all likely embarrassed for Hosmer last night and that we all went to bed (and possibly even woke up today) a little deflated.

That’s to be expected after we had our hopes built up, some of us even dreaming our wildest dreams about the trajectory of this franchise and the pace that this rebuild is on, only to have them plummet down to the earth quicker than Alex Bregman‘s weak pop-fly that fell behind Hosmer in the tenth.

But what got the Padres up to that point is what we (and they) should be focusing on. The Friars, after beating the Astros the previous night, stayed neck-and-neck with the heavyweight champions of the world all evening, lest we forget.

Padres’ promising pitching performances

Bryan Mitchell threw 5.2 innings of three-hit, shutout baseball. He walked six batters, which is a bit disheartening, but he worked out of each and every one of those self-inflicted jams. That deserves one hefty tip of the cap.

Although Kirby Yates came out of the game after throwing just one pitch (updates coming), and that’s worrisome, the Friars’ bullpen was anything but. The Padres also trotted out Craig Stammen, Kazuhisa Makita, Robbie Erlin (who took the loss), and Phil Maton, who was on the mound for the Bregman catastrophe.

Altogether, the relievers pitched four innings, giving up one earned run on three hits, striking out seven and walking none. That’s incredibly encouraging considering it came against one of the best teams in all of baseball.

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Padres’ productive plate appearances

Astros’ pitcher Gerrit Cole clearly gave the San Diego Padres fits last night, going seven strong innings striking out eleven and walking none. But the Friars did get to him on occasion.

Besides Hosmer’s Little League error in the tenth, he had a terrific day at the plate going 2-for-4 with his sixth double of the season. Hosmer’s now hitting .314 with a .886 OPS on the young season.

Christian Villanueva and Cory Spangenberg (El Spangynuevo, credit @farlundo) each contributed a double each and A.J. Ellis and Carlos Asuaje each chipped in singles of their own.

While last night’s loss was undoubtedly a heart-ripped-out-of-your-chest type of loss, this San Diego Padres team refuses to go gently into baseball oblivion, dismissed as “a season away”.

The last two games have given us all a glimpse of what’s in store for this franchise. Let’s hope Andy Green and his Friars can put one simple error behind them and look at last night for what it was; a moral victory marred by a laughable error.

Next: Padres Can't Dwell on One Bad Play

So what that it cost them the game? These things happen, move on : )