The Padres just cannot seem to solve the riddle that is the San Francisco Giants.
Or Johnny Cueto for that matter.
San Diego fell to 0-7 against the Giants this year after a shocking 1-0 loss at AT&T Park Monday night.
A seemingly harmless pop-up by Hunter Pence with two outs in the 9th inning should have sent a scoreless contest into extra innings.
Instead there was a miscommunication between Matt Kemp and second baseman Alexei Amarista and the ball dropped in safely after Kemp attempted a late dive but could not make the catch.
Brandon Belt provided the winning – and only – run of the ball game by hustling around from first base on the bizarre play.
Drew Pomeranz was stellar for the Friars. The lefty pitched 7 shutout innings and only allowed 2 hits but received a no-decision.
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Cueto also only gave up 2 hits but did so over 9 innings of work and punched out 6 batters during his latest complete game masterpiece.
With the exception of a Matt Kemp single and a base hit by Alexei Amarista, the San Diego offense was non-existent.
It’s the unfortunate theme of this season: The Padres keep getting shutout. This latest setback means San Diego has been blanked a ridiculous 10 times in its first 37 games.
Wrap your head around this one: Cueto has already beaten the Padres three times this season – and in each victory he has gone the distance. He has silenced the Padres to one single run over an eye-popping 27 innings.
But this time the pitcher’s duel by the bay wound up being decided by a miscommunication in right field.
The Padres will try to snap their 7-game skid against the Giants Tuesday when they send Andrew Cashner to the mound against Jeff Samardzija.
