Padres Wilt In Miami

Jun 29, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; San Diego Padres manager

(20) heads towards the pitching mound for a pitching change during the fourth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Padres drop the game in the Miami Monday night by a score of 4-0, and furthermore drop the series in a disheartening fashion 3 games to 1. The Padres were unable to make up ground in the NL West against the Marlins, but with division leader Arizona in the midst of their own 4 game losing streak, the Padres remain only 2.5 games behind. I consider that fortunate.

Jason Marquis pitched 6 1/2 inning for the loss, giving up 4 earned runs, 4 hits, 7 walks, with 4 strike outs. Not fantastic, but pretty much the same as he has all season – a lot of walks, a lot of ground ball outs, and a close pitching line that keeps the team in the game. Jason pitched a mix of 55.5% sinkers, 32.7% sliders, 6.4% change-ups and 1.8% 4-seam fastballs. Note – included in the pitch count total are 4 intentional balls thrown by Jason. Has the league caught up to Jason, or made adjustments? In my opinion no.  His sinking fastball moves around the zone and both hard to hit square and hard to control.  Marquis did not have as an effective feel for the zone tonight, as evidenced by the 7 walks.  When Marquis has a feel for his sinker and keeps its low in the zone, then it is pretty much lights out and frustration for the opposing hitters.  Overall, I felt the pitching was ok, but not great for the game.

Tonight, the loss has to fall on the Padres hitters. With the Padres hitters managing to get only 3 hits, and 2 walks it is fair to say that the offense sputtered. The Padres are really missing Jedd Gyorko and Everth Cabrera right now. Along with Carlos Quentin and Kyle Blanks, those are statistically our 4 most productive hitters right now. With Logan Forsythe and Pedro Ciriaco coming in and starting hot, we were able to continue along without too much loss in production for a stretch. However, it appears that those hitters have cooled a bit, and thus the Padres offense is starting to feel the effects of the injury bug. The good news is that Cabrera and Gyorko should coming back soon, although Gyorko has already had one setback already.  To me, having seen how important Gyorko and Carbrera are to our team this year, I’d rather they take the time and really get healthy and not overpress.  Missing one or two extra games, by coming back slow, is worth the risk of missing another 5 due to a setback.  Here’s hoping that the Padres can keep healthy and get their players back to make another mid-season run.  Go Padres.