The San Diego Padres needed a series win, and Matt Waldron led the way with a surprisingly strong start.
The San Diego Padres took the rubber game of their three-game series against the San Francisco Giants, 5-1, behind an impressive pitching performance from Matt Waldron and a timely power display from Gavin Sheets and Xander Bogaerts.
This one turned into an unexpected pitcher’s duel early despite the main pitchers coming into this one with high ERAs. Adrian Houser came in with an era of 7.12, and the Padres went with Bradgley Rodriguez as an opener to protect struggling erstwhile starters Matt Waldron.
Both Houser and Walden proceeded to have a day, however, as neither team could muster much offense in the first six frames. They did trade solo homers, however, with Gavin Sheets hitting one out for the Padres in the fourth, and Rafael Devers countered for the Giants in the fifth inning.
The Padres rallied to take the lead in the seventh on some atrocious Giants fielding. Fernando Tatis Jr. reached to lead off on an error by third baseman Matt Chapman, which got Houser out of the game after just 74 pitches, and Ramon Laureano walked. Right fielder Jesus Rodriguez then butchered a wind-driven fly ball that rolled into the corner, and that gave the Padres a 3-1 lead as the play was ruled a triple.
The Padres extended their lead to 5-1 in the eighth as Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run shot after a walk to Manny Machado. That was more than enough for Waldron and company, as Adrian Morejon picked up Waldron with a pair of scoreless innings to get to the ninth.
The Padres decided to bring in closer Mason Miller in a non-save situation, which can be risky business with a closer, but there’s zero risk in bringing Miller into any game these days. Miller used the opportunity to work on his changeup, as if hitters needed something else to worry about from the devastating reliever. He struck out two out of three hitters he faced to give him 73 for the season as he took the Padres home to victory.
Getting Waldron back on track was a good step for San Diego, as he pitched five innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts to get the win while giving up just two hits. The Giants managed a total of three hits for the day as Padres pitchers dominated throughout.
San Diego will welcome the St. Louis Cardinals to Petco tomorrow night for the first game of a four-game set. Michael King will get the ball against Matthew Liberatore for the Cards as the Padres try to keep pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers.