Padres Walk Away From a Win

Free baserunners hand game to Dodgers

At one point in the Padres' 6-1 loss to the Dodgers on Saturday, Los Angeles had 12 baserunners, but only three hits.

The Padres were like an on-base percentage free clinic. Staring pitcher Edinson Volquez issued seven walks, including one to opposing pitcher Zack Greinke, who was trying to bunt at the time. When you give the other team that many extra chances, it's eventually going to catch up with you, even though Volquez was actually not all that far off.

"He was throwing the ball well," said manager Bud Black. "They didn't square many balls up, they didn't hit the ball hard. But, the walks came back to bite him today."

That, and a terrible call by first base umpire Marty Foster. After walking the bases loaded in the 5th inning, Volquez got Skip Shumaker to hit a grounder to Logan Forsythe at 2nd base. He flipped to Pedro Ciriaco for one out, and the throw to first base was in time to get Shumaker, who inexplicably dove headfirst at the bag.

Shumaker was out (replays proved it, but they weren't really necessary, the ball got there first by a good 5 inches), but Foster ruled him safe.

Instead of an inning-ending double play, the Dodgers had a 1-0 lead, which was odd because Volquez was still throwing a no-hitter at the time. Want to know how many times Volquez has seen that in his career?

"Not many," he said. "I was good today, you know, like I said, three mistakes. It could have been a different story."

The next mistake came in the 6th inning, when Volquez gave up a home run to Adrian Gonzalez. The solo shot broke up the no-hitter and gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

It turned out to be the game-winner because Greinke tossed eight innings of 1-run ball, striking out eight Padres (including Carlos Quentin twice in their first get-together since April's fight).

The Padres can still win the series against the Dodgers. Andrew Cashner goes Sunday against Chris Capuano.

Contact Us