Padres: Trent Grisham awards Zach Davies with new nickname after win

Padres starter Zach Davies dominated the Astros over eight innings on Saturday, and Trent Grisham awarded his pitcher with a new nickname.

Credit Zach Davies for giving this bullpen a day of rest while also not allowing them to potentially blow the game in the process. The 27-year-old pitched 8.0 innings for the Padres in Saturday night’s 13-2 onslaught, fanning seven while allowing just two runs. Davies was part of the Trent Grisham trade this offseason, and his fellow Brewers teammate donned him with a new nickname after the game.

After a hot start to the season, Grisham entered the Astros series with a .237 batting average. He’s gone 6-for-10 through the first two games, including three home runs on Saturday. The 23-year-old centerfielder hit a solo blast in the bottom of the first inning and was part of the Padres nine-run outburst in the second inning. And he added the exclamation point later on.

Taking series against the Astros proves the Padres are contenders

Despite the cheating scandal that rocked baseball during the offseason, when MLB revised the schedule to accommodate the shortened season, there’s no question that most Padres fans had the series with the Astros circled on the calendar. These two teams hadn’t met since 2018 when the Astros took two-of-three.

Houston entered the weekend having won eight straight games, but the Padres quickly put an end to that and will look to sweep their AL West foes. And given how much this bullpen has struggled this season, it was important for the group to find their footing. Garrett Richards needed 64 pitches to get through two innings on Friday night, but the Padres ‘pen tossed seven innings, allowing two earned runs and holding the lead.

Davies’ eight-inning effort required only one inning from the pen, and Luis Perdomo made it through the ninth unscathed. Adrian Morejon will get the ball in the series finale on Sunday, and the 21-year-old was outstanding in his 2020 debut last week.