San Diego Padres: Friars’ Bats Come Alive in Drubbing of Mets

The San Diego Padres put a hurting on the New York Mets last night in a 12-2 blowout victory over the current NL East leaders.

The San Diego Padres had their ideal lineup and batting order in place last night, with Jose Pirela at second base and an outfield of Wil Myers, Franchy Cordero, and Manuel Margot.

Maybe it was an anomaly, or maybe this is the incarnation of the Friars that we, and the team themselves, have been waiting for all season..

The level of confidence in each and every at-bat was considerable and downright impressive. And the results weren’t too shabby either.

Granted, Jason Vargas was making his first start of the year, so there was likely a little rust and nerves to shake off. Fortunately for the Padres, Vargas never did get himself righted and the Friars pounced.

Padres got to Vargas early and often

After a Myers strikeout and an Eric Hosmer single to right to lead off the bottom half of the first inning, Christian Villanueva hit a two-run homer off Vargas (on an 87 mph fastball right down the heart of the plate) and the San Diego Padres were off and running.

After singles from Jose Pirela and the suddenly resurgent Freddy Galvis, Manny Margot brought everyone home with a bases-clearing triple to give the Padres an early 4-0 lead.

Another pair of Pirela and Galvis singles in the third bore fruit for the Friars when Austin Hedges poked a two-run single to left-field to extend the lead to 6-0.

And then in the fourth, Franchy struck again. After back-to-back walks to Villanueva and Pirela, Cordero displayed his awesome power once again for his sixth home run in under 60 at-bats so far this season.

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Just like that, it was 9-0 in the fourth and Jason Vargas’ night was over.

Austin Hedges added his third and fourth RBI of the night later in the inning with a double off of Seth Lugo scoring Galvis and Margot to make it 11-0.

Hedgie added his fifth run batted in of the evening in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single to left field, once again scoring Manny Margot.

Top San Diego Padres performers last night

All in all, the San Diego Padres saw incredibly encouraging offensive performances from a large handful of their starters.

Eric Hosmer went 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. Christian Villanueva went 1-for-3 with a walk, a homer, two RBI, and almost had another home run but was robbed by a leaping Juan Lagares in center field.

Pirela and Galvis each went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Margot had two hits, two RBI and scored two runs. And Hedgie looks to be finally breaking out of his month-long slump after a 3-for-4 night with five RBI out of the eight-hole.

Next: Wil Myers Exits Early with Strained Oblique

Things are looking up, folks. For today, at least.