The Padres, coming off of a rest day, headed to Milwaukee for a three-game series against the Brewers. Yu Darvish got the start as San Diego looked to set the tone for the series and take the first game. Unfortunately, Darvish struggled to perform to the level that was expected of him. He had the Padres down 5-0 after three innings and left the team needing to fight from behind. Manny Machado and Gary Sanchez would each hit home runs in the game to provide the Padres with 3 runs, but Milwaukee would score 2 more of their own and eventually take a 7-3 win to open the series.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
Yu Darvish unable to find a groove once again
On pace to have one of the worst seasons of his career, Yu Darvish did not help his cause against the Brewers. He let them grab the early lead in the 3rd inning after singles from William Contreras and Willy Adames made it 2-0. Later in the inning, Rowdy Telez would deliver the big blow on a 3-run home run that would make it 5-0 and put Darvish into a major hole. He would only last one more inning and ended his start with 5 ER and 6 hits allowed. Darvish’s ERA on the year is now at 4.56, which leaves him on pace for the second-worst season of his career ERA-wise. It was the third start in a row for Darvish in which he has allowed 4 ER or more, and he has now collected a loss in 5 consecutive starts. The losing streak has lowered his record to 8-10 and left the Padres wondering exactly how much they will be able to rely on Darvish in the future to pitch well enough for San Diego to gather wins in his starts. Considering his very successful career thus far, fans have justified reasons to believe that he will be able to turn things around eventually. However, it might be too little too late for the Padres to make any noise this season.
Padres tally just 3 hits off Brandon Woodruff
Brandon Woodruff, known as one of the 2 main aces in the Milwaukee pitching staff, had his way against the Padres on Friday night. In just his 6th start all season he was able to pitch 6 innings and allow only 1 ER. San Diego tallied just 3 hits, with the biggest one being Manny Machado’s solo home run in the 4th inning. Woodruff had his best stuff activated as he entered the double-digit zone in strikeouts, tallying 11 against the Padre batting order. It was his 19th career game with 10+ strikeouts, which is the most in franchise history. Through a season that has been limited by injury thus far, his ERA stands at 2.65. Woodruff will look to keep things rolling for the Brewers as they head into the final month of the season in the midst of a close divisional race with the playoffs on the line. As for the Padres, they will need to put up a much better fight against Freddy Peralta in Saturday’s game if they want to come up with a win.
San Diego gets torched by Tellez
The main source of offense for the Brewers as they strolled to a win was Rowdy Tellez. He provided some big numbers, going 2-4 on the day with 4 RBIs. He helped Milwaukee early with a three-run homer that would make it 5-0 before adding on another run in the 7th on an RBI single. This comes as a frustrating scene for the Padres as Tellez has not had good numbers this season. He’s hitting just .214 from the DH spot for the Brewers and has not been as effective as they might have hoped. Nonetheless, he burned the Padres in a big way and showed off his power. After being removed from the injured list just 6 days ago, his performance on Friday was his best since his return to play as he helped to hand the Padres loss number 68 on the season.
San Diego and Milwaukee will play once again on Saturday, with Freddy Peralta set to square off against Pedro Avila. Avila has been excellent for the Padres this season (1.17 ERA) and will do his best to get the team back in the win column.
First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. PT.
