The San Diego Padres finished off a bad road trip with another listless loss in Cincinnati.
The San Diego Padres finished their disappointing road trip with yet another loss, as the Cincinnati Reds used their formidable home run power to pound out a 7-3 win and take the rubber gmae of the three-game series.
The Padres got on the board first, starting in the opening inning as Ty France blasted a two run homer off Reds starter Brandon Williamson, and the Padres added another run in the second as Brandon Hays doubled and Fernando Tatis Jr. singled him home.
But Casey Mize quickly gave the lead back as the Reds played their version of long ball, starting with a three-run bomb by Juan Brito after Williamson walked Tyler Stephenson and Dane Myers singled. That tied the game at 3-3, but Hector Rodriguez hit another homer to give Cincinnati a 4-3 lead.
Mize made an early exit after four, as he gave up five hits and four earned runs to go with a walk and four strikeouts. He left plenty of pitches in the middle of the plate, and there were a couple of other balls that could easily have been hit out of the Great American Ballpark bandbox.
Williamson exited in the sixth with a decent line of three runs on seven hits and a pair of walks to go with five strikeouts. After that the Reds turned it over to their bullpen, which has had season-long struggles.
But Cincy padded its lead in the sixth off reliever Wandy Peralta, starting with a bunt single from JJ Bleday. Myers then singled, and a walk to Brito loaded the bases. Matt McLain hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.
Bleday continued to menace the Padres in the seventh inning, as he hit a two-run homer off Jhony Brito, with one of the runs being charged to Kyle Hart after he gave up a single to Elly De La Cruz. That made it 7-3 and put the Padres in a big hole.
The Reds pen may be flawed, but they had no issues putting the Padres away today. Cincinnati used four relievers to bring it home, and San Diego couldn’t do much with any of them.
It was the Padres’ fifth loss in six tries on the trip, as they lost ground in the wild card race after being in control of the second spot when they left. They’re still tied wiht the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third spot, pending the results of Arizona’s contest against the Philadelphia Phillies later today.
