The San Diego Padres suffered quite the heartbreaking loss at the hands of the San Fransisco Giants in their first matchup against one other since their home run showcase in Mexico City. SF came into the series riding a major hot streak that had seen them take down a division rival in the Dodgers and everybody was looking at the Friars to bring them back down to Earth.
However, it was a scheduled bullpen day and Ryan Walker took the mound at the start of the game for the Giants with four more pitcher taking his place over the course of 10 innings. The big problem here was that Michael Wacha made a normal stat where he lasted six innings and the Padres also ended up having to roll out four more guys themselves in relief as their bullpen failed to maintain the lead.
Between two home runs from Juan Soto and two RBI's from Ha-Seong Kim, the Friars found themselves in a solid place to win the game as they built up a 4-0 lead by the fifth inning. But Wacha allowed two of his home runs before being pulled for the night and that was just the beginning of their downfall.
San Diego still entered the ninth inning with a 4-2 lead but Luis Garcia lost control and threw a wild pitch which allowed Blake Sabol to score and Mike Yastrzemski to reach second base. Drew Carlton then replaced Garcia and allowed two walks which prompted him getting yanked for Ray Kerr.
The final result was a walk-off three-run homer in the tenth inning for Mike Yastrzemski as he came up big once again and the Giants took advantage of a weakened Padres bullpen. Once the Padres tarted allowing them to gain their confidence back, it was over and it started with that wild pitch from Garcia, who neglected to speak to postgame reporters.
"Garcίa, who walked past a reporter who attempted to speak to him after the game, has spent time as the Padres’ setup man over the past two seasons. He had three saves in 2022 and has 11 in his career. He has 26 holds over the past two seasons. He entered Monday’s game with a 5.23 ERA in ‘23, largely the product of having allowed a total of nine runs between two one-out appearances."
(Via The San Diego-Union Tribune)
We can definitely see why he was frustrated. Garcia was presented with a golden opportunity to prove to the franchise that he could handle the closer role when guys like Josh Hader and Nick Martinez are unavailable. Unfortunately, he faltered once again when the pressure got real and the Friars dropped a big one.
Team manager Bob Melvin touched on his mindset watching it all unfold.
“We’re trying to get Garcίa going,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “We’re trying to give him a chance. It hasn’t worked to this point. We definitely need another guy down there, another righty. We’re using the same two guys in Wilson and Martinez. It just hasn’t happened.”
(Via The San Diego-Union Tribune)
Let's hope the Padres can bounce back today!
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