Padres vs Phillies recap: Does offense even exist anymore?

The San Diego Padres took two games out of three in a low-scoring series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Each of the three games the Padres played against the Phillies resulted in a shutout. Just like the previous Padres series before this series, the Padres won the first and the last game, while losing the second game of the series. The total number of runs the Padres scored in the series was five, while the only runs the Phillies scored was three in the second game of the series. 

Mike Clevinger started the first game of the series and got the win. He pitched five innings and threw for five strikeouts, only allowing one hit. MacKenzie Gore came into the game in his first professional relief outing. He pitched three innings and threw four strikeouts without giving up a single run. The Padres won the game 3-0.

Many were wondering what the Padres would decide to do with Gore once Blake Snell came back to the rotation.

Some believed the Padres would send him back down to Triple-A El Paso. With Tuesday’s relief appearance, Gore proved that he does not need to be sent down to the minors just because he is no longer in the starting rotation.

Blake Snell made his season debut on Wednesday in the second game of the series. He threw a good amount of strikeouts, with five in 3.2 innings pitched, but he gave up three runs and earned a loss. The bullpen pitched well after Snell was pulled from the game, but none of the bats in the lineup were able to get much done, with only four hits resulting in zero runs for the Padres.  

In the third game of the series, Yu Darvish earned his fourth win of the season, going seven strong innings without giving up a run. With his effort, he brought his ERA down to a more respectable 3.91 ERA. One of the two runs the Padres scored came from an RBI single hit by newly-acquired Robinson Cano. Cano played in two of the three games and had three total hits.

Along with Cano producing in the game, the other eight starters in the lineup also recorded a hit. This is the first time this season that the Padres have had all of their starters record a hit in one game. 

Closer Taylor Rogers earned his 15th save of the season out of 16 save opportunities.

He now has a 0.52 ERA. His 15 saves leads the MLB, and he could be well on his way to winning the NL Relief Man Award after the season. 

Manny Machado’s batting average on the season now sits at .355, while Eric Hosmer’s is now .336. This is a drastic difference from the next eligible batting average on the team. Ha-Seong Kim’s batting average sitting at .221.

Padres manager Bob Melvin has been away from the team for a while because of his prostate surgery. He will be rejoining the team tomorrow after getting the surgery last week. Acting manager Ryan Christenson has done well in Melvin’s place, leading the team to a 6-3 record during Melvin’s absence. 

Christenson has gained popularity and positive reviews from the Padres clubhouse. Craig Stammen and Wil Myers have explained the impressive work he has done in the absence of Melvin.