Late Heroics Snap Padres Losing Streak

Friars come back with a big 9th inning in Texas

James Shields was not very good (by his standards). The offense was struggling again (well, kind of normal by their standards). Really nothing was going well for the Padres, who were well on their way to a 7th straight loss in Arlington, TX, on Saturday night.

Then the 9th inning started.

The Padres got half of their runs and hits in the final frame to stage a 6-5 comeback win over the Rangers. After Shields allowed four runs in 5.1 innings and was in line to take the loss because the Friars only mustered three runs on five hits while he was in the game.

Two of those runs came on a Matt Kemp home run, another on a Justin Upton RBI single. But the 9th started with the Rangers up 5-3. Shawn Tolleson came on to close it for Texas, and suddenly San Diego's bats got going.

With one out, Will Venable reached on a bunt single and moved to third base on a Brett Wallace single. Venable scored when Melvin Upton singled, but Andrew Cashner (who was pinch-running for Wallace) got thrown out trying to reach third base. That meant the Padres had a runner on first with two outs instead of the tying run in scoring position with one out.

Yangervis Solarte did not care. he ripped a 2-run shot to right field to spark a raucous dugout celebration. Craig Kimbrel worked a 1-2-3 inning to get the save and put the Padres in the position to finally win a series on the road, something they have not done since June 5-7 when they took two of three in Cincinnati.

Tyson Ross gets the start against Yovani Gallardo.

Contact Us