The San Diego Padres used the combination of Lucas Giolito and their strong bullpen to beat the Athletics last night.
The San Diego Padres have a serious shutdown bullpen, and they used it in relief of starter Lucas Giolito to shut out the Athletics, 2-o, and guarantee a series win in the three-game set.
Giolito was reasonably strong once again as he somehow posted five shutout innings despite walking five hitters and giving up another four hits. That’s hard to do, but the Padres’ newest starter is a veteran who knows how to work out of jams, and he certainly had plenty of traffic on the bases to deal with last night.
The Padres don’t need much of a lead, and they kept the margin for error small in this game as they scored single runs in the second and third innings.
The first run came courtesy of a meltdown by A’s starter J.T. Ginn, who also struggled mightily with his control. He walked the bases loaded, then hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch to bring the run home.
The second “rally” in the third was equally unimpressive, but it did what was necessary. Nick Castellanos walked, and Jackson Merrill doubled to right to get him to third. A groundout by Ty France got the run home, and that was all the scoring either time did for the night.
The pitchers took over from there with a vengeance. The Padres once again used their reliable combination of Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Mason Miller to shut down the A’s as the four relievers gave up just one hit in four innings.
Miller got his 16th save of the season, and this one was on the uneventful side as he struck out two of the three hitters he faced against his old team.
The Padres didn’t do much hitting either, and the offense continues to be an ongoing concern. The only hit other than Merrill’s double was a single by Gavin Sheets, so they didn’t do much to complement the eight walks given up by A’s pitchers on the night.
Tatis is now hitting .238, with Merrill at .206 and Manny Machado buried at .176, and the Padres really need to get more consistent production from their three stars.
Giolito remains a bit of a mystery despite his shutout effort last night. The Padres were expecting his command to improve some in this one, and he won’t be able to rely on baseball luck for long given that scary walk total.
The Padres will send Michael King to the mound today to go for the sweep, with Luis Medina countering for the Athletics.
