If this happens in June nobody is going to care. But, since it's happening in March, right on the heels of an off-season with all kinds of hype, losing two in a row feels like the sky is falling.
The Padres fell to 0-2 on the season with a 4-1 loss to the Rockies at Petco Park on Friday night. It's not the start anyone expected but, in the grand scheme of things, is still just one game before April Fool's Day in a season that ends well after Labor Day.
This team is going to be just fine.
Nick Martinez got the start. He had one rough inning then made one bad pitch. In the 1st the Rockies loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk. Martinez got Ryan McMahon to hit a grounder to Manny Machado at 3rd base that looked like an inning-ending double play. But, with 2nd baseman Ha-Seong Kim playing well off the bag against the left-handed hitter shortstop Xander Bogaerts had to get to the bag.
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That is an awkward angle to try and turn two. Bogaerts got the first out but lost his footing trying to make the transition and never got the throw off. A run scored on the fielders choice, then another one came home on a single by Elehuris Montero to make it 2-0 Rockies.
The bad pitch came in the 5th inning when Martinez gave up a 2-run home run to Charlie Blackmon that made it 4-0. Other than that Nick was really good, going 7.0 innings and striking out five on 100 pitches. With as many studs as the Padres have in the lineup, on most nights giving up just four runs is going to be good enough to win.
It's just not clicking yet.
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The Friars mustered just four hits, three of them from Kim (including two doubles) and got their only run in the 8th inning on a Bogaerts sacrifice fly. Through two games Juan Soto, Jake Cronenworth, and the DH combination of Nelson Cruz and Matt Carpenter have yet to get a hit. The good news is that's not going to last long.
The Padres try again on Saturday evening with one of their new additions on the mound. Michael Wacha makes his San Diego debut against Colorado's Jose Urena. As manager Bob Melvin said, getting a few runs early will likely help the team relax and let the big bats start booming.
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