Diamondbacks Pitching Stellar; Bats Fall Flat In Loss
Written by Jeff Demers on 04/13/2019
PHOENIX, AZ- The Arizona Diamondbacks are still trying to find their identity on offense as they dropped their third straight on the young season. This includes tonight’s 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.
Diamondbacks starter, Luke Weaver took his first loss of the season (0-1) even after pitching 6 and 1/3rd innings, striking out eight, and only allowing two earned runs while spreading out five hits. He allowed a home run by Manny Machado in the 1st inning, but then didn’t allow another run until the 7th inning after back-to-back doubles by Myers and Tatis.
The Diamondbacks bullpen, more specifically Hirano, Lopez, and Holland would hold the Padres scoreless the remainder of the game.
But other than an RBI single in the third that scored Dyson from third base, the Diamondbacks bats fell silent. The first three batters in the lineup went 3 for 12 with two doubles and an RBI.
For the Padres, it was all about their bullpen and a stellar start by Chris Paddack who only allowed one earned run in 5 and 1/3rd innings. He struck out five batters. The Padres bullpen would finish out the game with Reyes, Warren, and Yates. Reyes got his first win of the season, and Yates got his 8th save on the young season.
The Diamondbacks did not hit a ball out of the infield after Flores flied out to right field to lead off the sixth inning. They didn’t get another hit after David Peralta’s RBI single in the 3rd tied up the game.
So another stellar start by the back of the rotation goes to waste, but it does show some promise for Diamondbacks fans who didn’t like getting Weaver from the Cardinals in the Goldschmidt trade.
The Diamondbacks will face the Padres in the 3rd of four games tomorrow evening. The pitching probables are Merrill Kelly for Arizona, and Matt Strahm will be opposite for the Padres. Kelly is looking to get his 2nd win of the young season after losing his last game to the Red Sox, 1-0. He’s only allowed four earned runs in 14 innings pitched so far this season. Not bad for his first two starts of his career. Hopefully he can help the Diamondbacks get back on the winning track. But the bats will definitely need to do better than they did tonight.
