A day after losing a game in one of the strangest ways you’ll ever see, the Padres lost Sunday in a much more conventional fashion.
The Astros hit a pair of home runs while one of their stable of solid starting pitchers held the Friars to just four singles in a 4-1 win at Minute Maid Park in Houston, taking two of three in their weekend set with San Diego.
Padres starter Tyson Ross got through four scoreless innings before running into trouble. Ross left a slider up to Max Stassi and the catcher didn’t miss it, ripping a 3-run home run to left field to put Houston up 3-1. Ross also gave up a solo shot to Josh Reddick in the 6th inning to take the loss.
The only Padres run came in the top of the sixth. Chase Headley (who finally got his first hit of the season after a 0-12 start) was hit by a pitch and scored on a ground ball by Austin Hedges. It was the only damage they did against Charlie Morton, who struck out seven in six innings of work.
San Diego had another scoring chance one inning earlier. Manuel Margot singled, stole second and advanced to third base on a ground ball ... then was thrown out trying to score on an Eric Hosmer ground ball to shortstop. It was the second-straight game the Padres had a runner thrown out trying to score on a grounder with the infield in.
As has been the case for most of the season, shortstop Freddy Galvis was the best offensive player for the Padres.
Galvis had two more hits to run his average to .364. He’s the only Padre to reach base in all 10 games this season. The Padres need him to hit more often with guys on base. San Diego got their four hits and added four walks but went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight guys.
The Padres fall to 2-8 and start a three-game series in Denver against the Rockies on Monday night. Clayton Richard gets the start against Jon Gray.
