For the second consecutive night, the baseball world is buzzing over Yasiel Puig after the Los Angeles Dodgers closed out a victory over the San Diego Padres with yet another close play at first base in the 9th inning.
Puig, the 22-year-old Cuban defector that signed a seven-year contract worth $42 million this past offseason, has started his major league career by hitting 5-for-8 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs. Both HRs, and all of the RBIs, were needed for Los Angeles’ 9-7 win over San Diego at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
Despite big nights at the plate for Kyle Blanks (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs, BB), Carlos Quentin (3-for-5, HR, RBI) and Chris Denorfia (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBIs), the Padres’ pitching could not hold onto an early lead. Clayton Richard continues to pitch poorly in 2013, raising his ERA to 8.38 for the season after giving up 6 earned runs in 4.1 innings.
San Diego has now lost 3 consecutive games and have won just 5 of their last 14 games. Chase Headley and Yasmani Grandal could not shake their recent slumps, combining to go 0-for-8 on Tuesday.
Everth Cabrera (2-for-5, SB), who has arguably been the Padres’ best player in 2013, could be suspended for ties to the Biogenesis clinic that was found to be supplying MLB players with performance-enhancing substances. Grandal is also included on the list of MLB players associated with the clinic and could also be facing suspension after already missing the first 50 games of this season due to a drug test that had unnaturally high testosterone levels.
