San Diego Padres: Clayton Richard Flirts With History As Friars Take Series

It wasn’t the no-hitter that fans wanted, but the San Diego Padres won another series.

It almost happened. After Tyson Ross and Jordan Lyles flirted with throwing the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres team history, Clayton Richard took his shot at it on Sunday afternoon in Miami, Florida.

Richard took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a hit to Miguel Rojas with two outs in the inning. JT Riddle followed it up with a hit of his own, bringing in Justin Bour who led the inning off with a walk. They were the only two hits recorded by the Marlins on the afternoon.

With his slider working extremely well and generating numerous swings and misses, Richard’s final line read, 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. He improved to 5-6 on the year and lowered his earned run average to 4.40.

Kirby Yates and Brad Hand combined to finish off the final two frames, striking out three and refusing to allow a single baserunner.

As for the offense, Eric Hosmer and Hunter Renfroe paved the way with two hits each. Renfroe now has 12 hits in his 12 games since returning from the disabled list.  Hosmer hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning off Jose Urena, giving him eight jacks on the year.

Despite striking out three times at the plate, Christian Villanueva made a number of outstanding defensive plays in the hot corner. His first was a nice pick on a rocket groundball, extending Richard’s no-hit bid. His second noteworthy play of the afternoon was a definite must-see.

https://twitter.com/Padres/status/1005894765152366592

There are plenty of things this team needs to improve on if they want to become contenders in the

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National League in the near future, however, can we talk about the baserunning for a second?

Jose Pirela was gunned down at second base after attempting to swipe the bag on a throwing error. It was a complete misread by Pirela as the ball bounced right back to Justin Bour at first base.

Later on in the seventh, with two outs and two runners in scoring position, Manuel Margot was picked off third base, taking the bat out of the hands of leadoff hitter Travis Jankowski.

The last thing the Padres can afford to do is have baserunners make simple mistakes like these. With one of the lowest team batting averages and on-base percentages, every single baserunner is as valuable as gold on the basepaths.

Next: Luis Patino and Cal Quantrill Owned The Weekend Down On The Farm

The San Diego Padres return to action on Monday evening against the St. Louis Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 5:15 pm PT.