In Friday night action, the Padres opened up the first of a three game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Petco Park. Left handed pitcher Christian Friedrich toed the rubber for the Friars. He faced right handed Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson.
It was a scoreless game for most of the first two innings until Padres rookie Jose Rondon singled to center field to bring in Alex Dickerson. That was Rondon’s first career RBI.
The Padres added to their lead in the bottom of the third inning when Dickerson hit a sacrifice fly to center which brought in Travis Jankowski to give the Friars a 2-0 lead. The Phillies answered forcefully the very next inning when catcher Cameron Rupp slammed a three run homer to center field.
Rupp was at it again in the sixth inning when he doubled to deep left field to bring Maikel Franco, and give the Phillies a two run lead.
The Padres tried to rally in the seventh inning. Alexei Ramirez recorded his first career pinch-hit home run. It was his fourth homer of the season. That cut the Phillies lead to one run at 4-3.
San Diego was still down by one run in the eighth inning with a score of 5-3 against the Phillies. Enter All-Star Wil Myers. The first baseman launched a home run to left field to make it a one run ball game. Despite the final push, the Padres drop the series opener against the Phillies 5-4. The Friars will face the Phillies in game two on Saturday at Petco Park.
