San Diego Padres: Instant Reaction To Loss In St. Louis

The San Diego Padres dropped their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2.

Four hits. The San Diego Padres managed to record just four hits against Jack Flaherty and the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. In their attempt to win a fifth-straight series, the Friars dropped the opener to St. Louis, 5-2.

Jordan Lyles didn’t have it tonight. The veteran starter gave up two home runs for the second straight outing, surrendering 11 hits in total on the night. He needed 102 pitches (69 strikes) to get through six innings, recording just four ground ball outs in the process.

To give Lyles some credit, he did very well in limiting his pitches per inning after throwing 30 in the first inning. Unfortunately, a few hanging breaking balls and an inability to hit his spots resulted in a St. Louis Cardinal’s hit parade. Over his last two starts, Lyles has given up 19 runs and 22 hits.

It’s clear that Andy Green and staff are going to keep the starting rotation as it currently stands. Walker Lockett was given one chance and immediately sent back down. Luis Perdomo continues to pitch in El Paso with no hints at him being given another shot in the majors any time soon.

When Padres fan get antsy and want to believe this team can still win the National League West, well, the optimism is commendable.

Outside of a Travis Jankowski double down the left field line in the eighth inning, the only sign of life from the offense came off the bat of Cory Spangenberg.

The Padres need to figure out what they have in Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes, fact,

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however, not at the same time. In the fourth inning, Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty found himself on third base after hitting a soft single into right field. Franmil Reyes acted a little too aggressively on the play, overrunning the ball.

Reyes also went 0-4 at the plate with two strikeouts. He is now hitting .211 since being called up the major leagues.

Reyes has flashed an ability to be patient at the plate. He’s not all highlight reel moonshots but can rip timely base-hits through an infield as well. However, he doesn’t need to be in the lineup as much as he is.

Manuel Margot is supposed to be a cornerstone player the franchise can build around. He doesn’t get consistent at-bats. Hunter Renfroe was a 13th overall selection of the Padres who isn’t given regular playing time. Pretty hard to evaluate the young slugger or showcase his abilities as he’s dangled out as trade bait if he rides the pine.

Next: MLB All-Star Game Voting Update

Nothing to do but try again tomorrow, right? Game two of the series will start at 5:15 pm PT on Tuesday. The Padres will use a plethora of arms in a bullpen game while the Cardinals will send Miles Mikolas to the hill.