San Diego Padres drop series to L.A. in heartbreaking fashion

Holding a 10-9 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, the San Diego Padres fell by a walk-off double to the division rival.

Another series, another loss. The San Diego Padres just can’t catch a break.

It seemed like the Friars would be able to at least split the series against their division rival, the now-74-40 Los Angeles Dodgers. They had a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning, then a 10-7 lead going into the bottom of the eighth.

Surely, the Padres wouldn’t lose two three-run leads in the same game…again. 

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. The Friars allowed the Dodgers to crawl back twice and end the game on a walk-off double by Max Muncy.

Kirby Yates had come in to replace Andrés Muñoz in the bottom of eighth after the prospect allowed two runs to score. Yates made the first of his four-out attempt and seemed ready to end the game in the ninth.

With one out and a runner on first, Yates served up the perfect ground ball for a double play that should’ve put the series to rest. Unfortunately, Luis Urías bobbled the grounder and gave the runners just enough time to reach safely. First and second base were now occupied.

Muncy came up to bat and hit a sharp double to right field, allowing the runner on second to score easily. Hunter Renfroe threw a relay to Urías who then botched the relay to home. His throw to Francisco Mejía was about six feet to the right of home plate.

And that was all she wrote.

It was another rough outing in which the Padres couldn’t get out of their own way. One would think putting up 10 runs with 12 hits would be enough to win a game. San Diego went 4-for-8 with RISP and left five runners on base. That’s not awful baseball.

Nevertheless, the Padres lost their second game this season in which they forfeited at least two three-run leads. Both were by the same score too, 10-11.

The young guns had some trouble in this game. Chris Paddack had perhaps his worst outing of the season, allowing six runs of six hits in only four innings pitched. Muñoz showed his youth as he displayed discomfort in his 29-pitch outing, while Urías looked lost in the field.

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It wasn’t all bad though. The Padres once again proved their offensive potential as every position player had at least one hit for the second night in a row — even Paddack joined the party with an RBI single.

They also refused to give up and go down easily. After coughing up a three-run lead, the Padres fought back to tie the game then take another three-run lead in the eighth inning. All of this against the best team in baseball.

A 10-11 loss is the same as a blowout though, and the Friars had to add another L to the season. They’ll have an off-day as they prepare to travel to the Pacific Northwest for an interleague series against the Seattle Mariners.

That said, the season is far from over. 2019 was never their year but the expectation is that they’ll fully contend in 2020. That means the Padres still have a lot to prove to the fans, the league, and themselves before October.

While the playoffs may be out of reach, finishing this season at least at .500 would be concrete proof that this season was a step in the right direction. Sitting at 51-60 and last place in the National League West makes that a tall task though.

Let’s hope that they can do it.

For complete coverage of the San Diego Padres 2019 season, be sure to visit Friars on Base all season long.