It felt like the San Diego Padres\u2019 game all day, in large part, because it was.<\/p>\n
Michael King<\/a> twirled six innings of two-run ball, sporting eight strikeouts and only one walk. He exited the game with a 7-2 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was over in a hurry.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Padres\u2019 bullpen (uncharacteristically) gave up the game in a loud way. David Morgan and Bradgley Rodriguez combined to give up six runs \u2014 including a Tim Tawa<\/a> grand slam \u2014 in the bottom of the seventh before Ron Marinaccio<\/a> and Wandy Peralta<\/a> gave up four more runs in the eighth to give the D-backs a five-run cushion.<\/p>\n San Diego<\/a> tried to come back multiple times but couldn\u2019t answer once, ending in a disappointing loss after what had started off as a promising game. Three home runs, two from Manny Machado and the other from Luis Campusano<\/a>, had buoyed the Friars for most of the game until the relief blowup.<\/p>\n On most days, if the Friars scored seven runs before turning it over to the bullpen, there\u2019d be no worry of giving the game up. But yesterday that was not to be.<\/p>\n The hard truth for the Friar Faithful is there will be games like this. It\u2019s not an indictment on the bullpen, it\u2019s just a long, long, season and leads will be blown sometimes \u2014 no matter how good the club is.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n That being said, San Diego will return home tonight hoping to best the similarly-hot Chicago Cubs<\/a>. Their offense will be back in the pitcher-friendly confines of Petco Park so they\u2019ll need to bet on a bounce back performance from the relief corps.<\/p>\n Taking the moundMatthew Boyd<\/a> (CHC) v. Randy V\u00e1squez (SD)<\/p>\n That being said, Boyd (although feared in the past) has not been pitching like himself lately. He gave up six runs in his first start of the season before being placed on the injured list for two weeks. He\u2019s been better since returning but still sports a 5.79 ERA on the year.<\/p>\n Boyd has also yet to go a full six innings in a game (5 2\/3 at most). That\u2019s good news for the Friars, who will hope to get to the Chicago bullpen quickly. They\u2019ve been mostly solid but have struggled to a 3.95 ERA to start the year, and are without closer Daniel Palencia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n V\u00e1squez, on the other hand, has been San Diego\u2019s ace to open the season. He\u2019s tallied a 1.88 ERA and 1.08 WHIP to go with 30 strikeouts across 28 2\/3 innings. He\u2019s been a beast on the mound for the Padres and has only given up more than one run once.<\/p>\n Helping V\u00e1squez significantly is his history facing Chicago. The righty owns a .194 opponent batting average against the Cubs\u2019 lineup. If he can limit them similarly (like he\u2019s done to opponents all season), V\u00e1squez will have no problem tonight.<\/p>\n Batter up!<\/p>\n After some early tweaking by manager Craig Stammen<\/a>, the lineup has been more or less set lately. It seems likely that continues tonight against Boyd, looking something like this:<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I\u2019m hoping that Song makes his debut at the plate tonight. It\u2019s possible that he debuts in a pinch-hit opportunity or DH-ing) as opposed to starting the game at second. But it seems possible he takes the start over Jake Cronenworth<\/a> after Cronenworth\u2019s slow offensive start to the season.<\/p>\n Tatis is still searching for his first homer of the year. It has been \u2014 by far \u2014 his longest drought without one. Hopefully he\u2019ll hit one while being cheered on by the Friar Faithful tonight.<\/p>\n Relief corps<\/p>\n Like I said, the San Diego bullpen looked rough yesterday. But that\u2019s hardly an indication of a downhill turn for the group. They\u2019ve been dominant this year, ranking third in the majors with a 3.03 ERA.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The high-leverage guys (Jason Adam<\/a>, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller<\/a>) have continued to be dominant \u2014 showing no signs of stopping. Miller took the franchise record for scoreless innings pitched this weekend and will look to extend it tonight if San Diego has a lead in the ninth.<\/p>\n