Padres 8, Reds 2: Seth Smith Leads Surging Offense

Ian Kennedy has pitched solidly this season, but like most of the Padres' rotation, hasn't had much run support, averaging 2.4 runs per game. Tonight was a little different, as the offense rained destruction on Cincinnati pitching. With Seth Smith leading the way, the team scored 8 runs on a season high 16 hits. Every single starter picked up at least a base knock, including Kennedy himself. Four players had multi-hit games, and Smith and Carlos Quentin both homered, Smith to the Jack Deck, Quentin to the Western Metal Building. With run support like that, Kennedy could have taken it easy, but he only gave the Reds a single run on 7 hits and a walk in 6 innings of work.

It didn't take long for the Friars to get on the board, with Smith homering off Mike Leake's third pitch. They added on the very next inning, thanks to a trio of two-out singles from Alexi Amarista, Irving Falu, and Ian Kennedy. Things settled down for a few innings after that, with both teams going scoreless in the third and fourth. The Reds, like Darkwing Duck, got dangerous in the fourth, with singles from Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier putting them on the board. Smith was determined to get that run right back, leading off the bottom half of the inning with a double before scoring on Chase Headley's RBI single.

If the Padres' lineup had called it a night after the fifth, it might have been a tense evening, but instead they dropped a crooked number after the 7th Inning Stretch. Smith led off with yet another hit before scoring on Quentin's towering home run. Yasmani Grandal followed up with a free pass, with Tommy Medica moving him along with a line drive single. Cameron Maybin brought Grandal home for the third run of the inning. Medica would follow him in courtesy of a two-error play by Joey Votto. There was one more run in store for the good guys, and it started with a leadoff pinch-hit single by Will Venable. He went to second on a wild pitch and was awarded third on a balk. Quentin picked up his third RBI of the night, bringing Will home on a sacrifice fly.

With a massive lead, Tim Stauffer took the hill in the ninth, and it was, well, less than good. Devin Mesoraco hit a leadoff homer to center field, and Skip Schumaker followed up with a single. A double play eased tensions considerably, but things got scary again when a couple singles and a walk loaded the bases full of Reds. It looked like former Friar Ryan Ludwick was going to keep the rally going when Todd Frazier beat Headley's throw to second, but Buddy Black came out to challenge the call. A few minutes later, Frazier was ruled out and the game was over.

Tyson Ross will go for the sweep tomorrow. Head out to the ballpark at 12:40 PM to catch Bobby Cressey's sweet tunes on the organ and cheer on our boys!

TTG beat Friar Fever in both comments and recs. I doff my cap to him.