On Friday night in Arizona, Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet made the kind of start that gets a pitcher a win the vast majority of the time. Alas, this was not one of those times.
Lamet was fabulous over 6.0 innings but a Padres offense that was among the best in baseball for the first third of the season stayed cold in a 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks. The Friars have lost three straight games for the first time in this short season and drop their record to 11-10.
The Padres had a chance to take the lead in the 3rd inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Trent Grisham singled and Grisham stole 2nd base, prompting the DBacks to intentionally walk Manny Machado and load the bases with one out. Nobody moved from there.
Cleanup hitter Tommy Pham struck out and Eric Hosmer flew out to centerfield to end the threat and the Padres didn't get another runner as far as 3rd base for the rest of the night.
For the first five innings Lamet was as dominant has he's been all season. He only allowed two hits, both singles, and neither of them left the infield. In the 6th inning he got touched up by the one guy in the Arizona lineup who seems to have a clue against him.
In his last start, also against the Diamondbacks, Lamet had a no-hitter in the 7th inning when Kole Calhoun ruined it with a solo home run. On Friday night Calhoun busted up the shutout again with another solo blast to put the snakes on top 1-0. It was the only run Lamet allowed in 6.0 innings. He struck out eight hitters and took a loss he did not deserve.
It was still a 1-0 game in the bottom of the 8th inning when Kirby Yates took the mound for the first time in a week. Yates has been feeling stiffness in his back and it might be more serious than anyone knew. He struck out Daulton Varsho on a pitch in the dirt. Catcher Francisco Mejia couldn't block it cleanly so Varsho made it safely to 1st base but the bigger issue was Yates.
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He was in obvious pain and left the game, walking to the clubhouse with the Padres training staff. Padres manager Jayce Tingler says Yates has "discomfort in the back of the elbow" and will have an MRI to see what's going on but he expects the All-Star closer to miss at least a few days.
After that Javy Guerra came on and got a ground ball to Machado that should have been a double play. Manny whiffed on it, putting runners at the corners, and then things got out of hand. Arizona scored four times in the 8th to put it out of reach.
The Padres finally got on the board when rookie Jake Cronenworth singled in Wil Myers, snapping a 16-inning scoreless drought for San Diego.
It's the first time all season the Padres have lost the first game of a series. They'll try to bounce back on Saturday in Phoenix when Cal Quantrill makes his first start of the season against Arizona lefty Alex Young.
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