Padres Ride Richard To Sweep Of Cubs

The Padres won another low-scoring affair against the Chicago Cubs, this time behind the left arm of Clayton Richard. Richard threw a five-hit shutout, and the Padres defeated the Cubs 2-0.

The shutout was the second of Richard’s career — the first came in 2010, against the Dodgers. Bud Black made an appearance in the ninth, a sign that the day might have been over for the hurler. Instead, Black showed confidence in Richard, and Clayton delivered.

San Diego did not put on an offensive show against Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija, but scored enough to get the win. The Padres scored a run in the second inning, when Will Venable drove in a run with an RBI double.

The Padres pushed across another run in the 8th inning, when Yonder Alonso stroked an RBI single to left. Alonso went 2-4 on the day, and improved his batting average to .272.

Richard was the story in this game, allowing just five hits in the complete-game masterpiece. He walked two, and struck out five. The win improved his record to 9-11. The record also improved Richard’s career record to 39-39.