After 12 long innings last night, the Padres desperately needed Robbie Erlin to throw a solid game, and he did just that, allowing a solitary run on 3 hits and 4 walks over 7 innings. Unfortunately, the only run support he got was a solo home run from Yasmani Grandal. The Royals were looking for their own bullpen-saving start, and got it from Jeremy Guthrie. He went 8 innings, giving up just 4 hits and a walk. And that's how they spent 23 innings in the space of two days.
The Padres almost didn't make it to extra innings, though. With one out, Alcides Escobar eked out an infield single. He followed that by stealing second and third. Those steals must have made him cocky, because when Lorenzo Cain hit a pop fly into shallow right field, he tagged on the catch and ran for home. Kyle Blanks gunned the ball back home, and Grandal tagged Escobar easily.
I won't dwell on the bottom of the ninth. Three backwards Ks from the heart of the lineup is all you need to know.
Nick Vincent took over in the top of the 11th and immediately served up a double to Eric Hosmer, who had been 0-4 with 3 strikeouts until that point. Alex Gordon knocked in Hosmer with a single and moved to second on the throw home. Gordon would become an insurance run when Billy Butler hit a double immediately after. Not that it mattered. The Padres came up empty in the bottom of the 11th, and that was that.
Andrew Cashner goes for the series win in less than 12 hours. Get to the ballpark at 12:40 PM and visit Bobby Cressey between sections 311 and 313.
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| Total comments | 174 |
| Total commenters | 15 |
| Commenter list | Axion, B Cres, Conor42, Dex, Friar Fever, Jonathan Holmes, LetBurroughsPitch, Sam (sdsuaztec4), Zen Blade, abara, daveysapien, huck.barry, jodes0405, podpeople, walkoff59 |
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Friar Fever just barely edged out Conor42 40 comments to 39, but Conor 42 had an impressive 4 recs.