Rangers Edge Padres, 4-3, To Take Three-Game Series As Offense Comes Up Short Again

The San Diego Padres came up short offensively again in their 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers, as starter Eovaldi and a trio of Texas Relievers combined to keep the Padres at bay and give the Rangers the series win. 

The Padres went with an opener in this one, and Wandy Peralta got it done with a scoreless inning, as the Rangers went with Nathan Eovaldi. Lucas Giolito was the bulk reliever, and the Rangers got on the board first with three runs in the third. 

The Rangers rally featured Wyatt Langford, who’s been wearing the Padres out in this season, and his three-run homer got Texas off to a good start. 

The Padres came back in the fourth to tie the game, starting with a double by Jackson Merrill and a single by Manny Machado. Xander Bogaerts singled to score Machado, but Sheets got thrown out at home on a fine relay sequence from left field. The Padres kept hitting, though, on a single to left that hit third base by Ty France, and a wall-ball double to right by Sun-Mung Song drove him Bogaerts to make it 3-3.

Giolito got hit hard again in the Rangers half of the fourth, however, scoring the fourth run on consecutive singles by Nicky Lopez, Langford and Josh Jung to make it 4-3. Giolito got out of the mess, though, as Bogaerts picked a grounder up the middle and made the turn himself to get a double play for his pitcher. 

Kyle Hart took over for Giolito in the sixth, and his final line of four runs on seven hit to go with two walks and two strikeouts wasn’t exactly first-rate. Giolito has mostly struggled so far, and his  spot in the rotation could be gone completely if he doesn’t clean things up quickly. 

Eovaldi left after six with a solid line that included three runs, seven hits and nine strikeouts to go with a walk. He did a fine job of spotting his splitter to get out of trouble on a day when he really didn’t have his best stuff. 

The rest of the game was about the Padres trying to break through against a series of Texas relievers, which has struggled to date. The Padres got close in the ninth as they started the inning with back-to-back singles by pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts as Tatis was given the day off, but Jakob Junis was able to get the side in order after that as the lower part of the Padres batting order couldn’t come through. 

Eovaldi got the win with Junis picking up his fifth save, with Giolito talking the loss, and the Padres will head home to begin a series against the Atlanta Braves tomorrow night.