The Lights Went Out for the Padres

There was a bunch of excitement Saturday in the West as 2 games required extra innings and in the NL we saw the race tighten as Colorado and Los Angeles won and the Diamondbacks lost. Power outages, 9th inning home runs, automatic closers blowing saves, and a 50th save picked up are just some of the dramatic events of the day. With Kershaw going for the Dodgers against the Padres you’d think he’d pick up my Pitcher of the Day but even his 8 inning, 2 earned run performance was not enough to beat out a starter in Mile High. German Marques pitched great and while he didn’t get the win, he gets my Pitcher of the Day.

Colorado and Arizona Tied at the Top of the NL West

Astros 8, Angels 3
Padres 4, Dodgers 5
Rangers 3, Giants 5
A’s 6, Twins 2
Mariners 4, Diamondbacks 3
Cardinals 1, Rockies 9

The Mariners put together some dramatics as they tied up the D-Backs in the 9th and then won on a HR in the 10th. Coupled with a scoreless bottom of the inning that gave Edwin Diaz his 50th save, Seattle kept pace with Oakland and Houston in the AL. In Anaheim, Justin Verlander didn’t have his best stuff but he held the Angels to 3 runs over 6 innings to pick up his 13th victory. While Shohei Ohtani smacked a 2 run shot in the 4th it wasn’t even close as Jaime Barria had already given up 4 by the 3rd inning. In Minnesota, Mike Fiers continued his hot streak as he won his 3rd in a row by throwing 5 2/3 innings and giving up only a single run. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy provided all the offense needed as he started off the scoring in the 2nd with a line drive single that scored Chad Pinder and later he smacked a 3 run homer that put the A’s ahead for good.

In the NL, the Dodgers overcame a determined Padres team, who tied the game up in the 9th, and a power outage that seemed to turn off the Padres’ brains. With Matt Kemp on 2nd in the 12th, half the lights went out at Dodger Stadium (I guess the maintenence crew thought the game was supposed to be over in the 9th) but as they came back on, Justin Turner tapped a popup to right field where 3 Padres watched it fall in-between them and then they kinda called it a game. While they simply picked up the ball, Kemp rounded 3rd and easily scored as the mental error of 3 Padres gave the boys in blue a 5–4 win. In Colorado, it took an 8 run outbreak in the 8th but someone finally beat the Cardinals. German Marquez didn’t pick up the win but his 7 inning, shutout performance certainly put the Rockies in position to get the victory. With Matt Holiday’s pinch-hit home run in the 7th and the 8 run 8th, Colorado moved into a tie with Arizona for 1st place in the NL West.

Player of the Day: Rougned Odor, Texas – 3–4, HR, 3 RBI
Pitcher of the Day: German Marquez, Colorado – 7 innings, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 9 K

Sports – West Coast Baseball – The Lights Went Out for the Padres