The San Diego Padres are now at 2-5 after dropping the first game of their first trip to the Boston Red Sox.
The San Diego Padres got off to a rough start against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, as the Padres dropped the series opener, 5-2 in Boston’s home opener.
This was a battle between two playoff teams from last year that are struggling out of the gate right now, and the series opener started out as a tight game. Michael King was mostly on his game early on, but the Red Sox scored the first two runs of the game in the third and fourth innings, respectively. The first came on a single by center fielder Cedanne Rafaela, while the second was driven in by another single by third baseman Caleb Durbin despite the fact that Durbin started the game in a massive slump.
The Padres struck back for a pair of runs in the fifth, with an assist from some sketchy defense from Boston. The key hit was a fake triple by Miguel Andujar that Rafaela lost in the sun, and catcher Luis Campusano chipped in by hammering an RBI double off the Fenway wall in left.
The game got away from King and the Padres in the seventh as he ran out of gas, giving up a long ball to Boston first baseman Wilson Contreras. Reliever Wandy Peralta came in and promptly gave up another one to infielder Marcelo Mayer in a drive that right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. just missed snagging as he tumbled into the Padres bullpen.
Most of the Padres lineup is now slumping, as San Diego managed just four hits and was mostly dominated by Sox starter Sonny Gray and a pair of Boston relievers to get to lights-out closer Aroldis Chapman.
Tatis is now at .200 for the season, with shorstop Xander Bogaerts and center fielder Jackson Merrill are also below the Mendoza line at .143 and .185, respectively. Two other hitters in the Padres lineup, second baseman Jake Cronenworth and Campusano, are also now under .200.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Red Sox, while the Padres dropped to 2-5. King took a tough loss for San Diego, while Gray got the win for Boston with Chapman posting his second save. The Padres remain in the AL West basement as their bad start continues, and they’re temporarily a half-game game behind the Colorado Rockies pending Colorado’s game against the Phillies.
This wasn’t what Padres fans had in mind to open the season, but hopefully the offense can perk up as starter Randy Vasquez can duplicate his strong first start tomorrow against rookie Connelly Early of the Red Sox. The Padres need to at least get out of the basement, but right now the .500 mark looks a long way off.