|
 But one of the few Padres with speed, second baseman Cory
Spangenberg, ran the Padres into a win Friday night at Petco Park.
"It was more about baserunning than pure speed," Padres manager Pat
Murphy said after the rookie infielder twice ran his way to runs in
the Padres 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a
three-game series.
Spangenberg's legs and the combined efforts of right-handed starter
Tyson Ross and three relievers enabled the Padres to snap a two-game
losing streak and avoid falling more than five games below .500 for
the first time this season.
"I just did what I could do to help us win," said Spangenberg, who
was 3-for-3, including two infield hits, with two steals and two
runs scored. Both runs came on slides into the plate to beat throws
from the outfield -- one on an error and one on a sacrifice fly.
Spangenberg was also ruled safe on two appeal plays.
The Padres were trailing 2-1 when Spangenberg went to work in the
bottom of the third.
The left-handed hitter opened the inning with an opposite-field
single off Arizona left-handed starter Robbie Ray. Spangenberg moved
to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ross. Then, as right fielder Matt
Kemp was striking out, Spangenberg stole third and scored when the
throw by Diamondbacks catcher Welington Castillo sailed into left
for an error -- Spangenberg sliding in ahead of the throw from left
fielder David Peralta.
"We threw the ball away on that steal (of third), but they made it
happen," said Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale of Spangenberg's first
steal. "They pushed the envelope and they did a nice job and it
worked."
Two innings later, Spangenberg led off with a broken-bat infield
single. He stole second, again moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Ross
and beat center fielder A.J. Pollock's throw to the plate on a short
sacrifice fly by Kemp.
Meanwhile, Ross survived a shaky start to improve to 5-7 by beating
the Diamondbacks for the second time in a week.
Five days after holding the Diamondbacks to a run on four hits and a
walk in the Padres' only complete game of the season, the
right-handed Ross struggled with his control over the first three
innings.
Ross walked five of the first 11 Diamondbacks he faced and threw
only 29 of his first 58 pitches for strikes. Ross walked the bases
loaded in the third and had a full count on Paul Goldschmidt when
the Arizona first baseman lined a two-out single to center to give
Arizona a 2-1 lead.
But Ross retired nine of the last 10 Diamondbacks he faced and
allowed two runs on two hits and five walks with seven strikeouts in
six innings. Twenty-six of his last 41 pitches were for strikes.
"I had trouble repeating my delivery," said Ross. "I made an in-game
adjustment."
[to top of second column] |
Ross credited pitching coach Darren Balsley with helping him make
the adjustment.
"He made the perfect tip," said Ross. "All it takes from Bals is a
word or two here and there."
Right-handed relievers Brandon Maurer and Joaquin Benoit pitched
perfect innings in front of closer Craig Kimbrel, who issued a walk
in the ninth en route to his 19th save.
Padres pitchers retired 18 of the last 20 hitters they faced.
Arizona starter Robbie Ray (2-3) allowed three runs (two earned) on
five hits in six innings to suffer the loss.
The Padres added a run in the eighth on a lead-off double by Kemp, a
grounder to the right side of the infield and an infield single by
left fielder Justin Upton.
The Padres had taken a 1-0 lead in the first when catcher Derek
Norris reached on a one-out fielding error by Goldschmidt and a
run-scoring double to left-center by first baseman Yonder Alonso.
"We don't see that on the linescore very often," said Hale said of
the errors by Goldschmidt and Castillo and a later throwing error by
relief pitcher David Hernandez on Upton's eighth-inning single. "We
just didn't play the defense that we're used to playing. We are
usually tighter than that.
NOTES: RHP Archie Bradley, the Diamondbacks first-round pick
(seventh overall) in the 2011 draft, is going to see Dr. James
Andrews for a second opinion on the soreness in his right shoulder.
Bradley, who is 2-3 with a 5.80 ERA in eight starts, has been on the
disabled list since June 4 with shoulder tendinitis. He complained
of soreness after his first rehab start with Triple-A Reno on
Wednesday . . . Padres' RHP Brandon Morrow, who has been out since
May 3 with shoulder inflammation, will throw from the bullpen mound
on Saturday or Sunday.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
