The last time the Padres swept a series in Philadelphia was the last year the Padres went to the World Series. So seeing as how the Friars have been pretty bad at completing sweeps (just two this season) and at winning on Sundays (4-8 in 2017) it was probably asking a little much for San Diego to win three straight this weekend.
The Padres lost to the Phillies 7-1 in the last game before the All-Star break. San Diego starter Trevor Cahill had eight strikeouts in 5.0 innings but was also touched up by the long ball. Cahill gave up homers to Nick Williams, Cameron Rupp and Freddy Galvis as the Phillies built a 4-0 lead.
Philly kept swinging it against the Padres bullpen. Odubel Herrera went deep off Crain Stammen in the 6th and in the 7th, rookie reliever Phil Maton surrendered back-to-back dingers to Aaron Altherr and Galvis. Philadelphia’s six home runs are one shy of their single-game franchise record.
The Padres, meanwhile, had the same number of hits (seven) but six of them were singles. Their only run came in the 9th inning on a sacrifice fly by Hector Sanchez. The Padres hit the All-Star break with a 38-50 record but there is reason for excitement.
They went 4-2 on their road trip through Philly and Cleveland and after a bad start to the season they’ve played much better. In their first 44 games the Friars were 15-29. In their last 44 games they’ve gone 23-21.
Everyone not named Brad Hand gets a four-day break before starting a weekend series against the last-place Giants at Petco Park on Friday, July 14.
