The San Diego Padres lineup got more right-handed against the Red Sox yesterday, and Ramon Laureano came through again.
The San Diego Padres are still tinkering with their lineup, and the latest effort to jump-start their struggling offense features their best hitter. It’s not who you’d expect, though, as Ramon Laureano continues to be the only consistent source of production so far.
The outfielder did it again yesterday against the Boston Red Sox, coming through with a ninth inning, game-winning single off closer Aroldis Chapman to give the Padres a 3-2 win.
The latest tinkering moved up a pair of right-handed hitters to face lefty starter Connelly Early, with Laureano and Miguel Andujar slotting in at two and three, respectively, behind Fernando Tatis Jr. in the leadoff spot. Freddy Fermin was moved up to sixth, with Ty France inserted in the lineup behind him.
The lineup didn’t result in a lot of hits, but hits were hard to come by on a chilly, windy day at Fenway. It did work, though, in the sense that it forced Early to throw 88 pitches and make a relatively quick exit. The Padres couldn’t break through against a series of Red Sox relievers, but manager Craig Stammen still likes what he saw.
“I felt good about what we were doing at the plate,” Stammen said in a piece written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “I felt like we were willing to take the walk today a little bit. We were passing the baton to the next guy, and then we got a couple big hits in big at-bats.”
There were some bright moments. France doubled off the Green Monster, and Fermin scored the first run of the game and knocked in the second with an RBI double. Andujar had three hits, and Laureano came through late, so the move to make the lineup more right-handed produced in a limited way.
The best news by far, however, was the late contribution of Tatis. He looked dreadful for most of the day as he struck out four times, but Tatis returned to form in the ninth with a ringing double to center off Chapman that allowed him to score the winning run.
It’s not a lot, but the Padres are just trying to tread water right now. They’ve looked decidedly lifeless in most of their early games, and there have been few signs of the team that played crisp, energetic baseball that led to back-to-back playoff appearances. The Padres are still waiting for Tatis and Manny Machado to come to life, and until that happens they’ll continue to need larger contributions from Laureano and others.