Padres Win 5th Series in a Row
The Padres took two out of three vs. the Cardinals in St. Louis and have won five straight series for the first time since 2010. Despite the fact that they still sit in last place, 6.5 games out of first, this Padres team has surprised a lot of people with their decent play as of late.
The series began with a 5-2 loss at Busch Stadium. The Padres jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning with a Cory Spangenberg home run but starter Jordan Lyles gave up a two-run homer in the 3rd and another in 5th as the Cardinals took a 4-1 lead. The Padres got home back in the top of the 8th but former Padre Jedd Gyorko homered in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-2 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.
San Diego bounced back on Tuesday however, riding the strength of five relievers to a 4-2 win. Eric Hosmer homered in the top of the 4th to give the Padres a 1-0 lead and added two more in the inning on an A.J. Ellis single. Christian Villanueva added another run in the 7th with an RBI groundout. St. Louis scored two in the bottom half of the inning but Kirby Yates and Brad Hand slammed the door in the 8th and 9th innings to seal the win. Hand picked up his 20th save of the season.
On Wednesday, the Padres won the series with their second 4-2 win in as many days. Freddy Galvis opened up the scoring with a two run double in the top of the 1st and Manny Margot tripled in the top of the 6th to give the Friars a 3-0 lead. Raffy Lopez added a RBI single to make it 4-0. Marcell Ozuna homered for the Cardinals to cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the 6th. Padres starter Eric Lauer was lifted after 5 ⅔ and the bullpen threw the next 3 ⅓ innings without giving up a baserunner. Brad Hand notched his 21st save of the season as the Padres took two out of three from the Cardinals in St. Louis.
The Padres dropped their first game in Atlanta last night putting their record at 33-38. Clayton Richard (5-6, 4.40 ERA) will get the start on Friday night vs Brandon McCarthy (5-3, 5.03 ERA) and Jordan Lyles (2-3, 4.83 ERA) will face Sean Newcomb (7-2, 2.92 ERA) on Saturday night.
