The Morning Report
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Cameron Maybin returned from injury to help lead the San Diego Padres to a 6-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies in 12 innings. In his first game back he finished 2-for-5 and led the team with 2 stolen bases and 2 RBIs, all while playing stellar defense in Center Field.
Dale Thayer has been excellent as the setup guy out of the Padres’ bullpen this season, but on Thursday night he gave up 2 runs to the Colorado Rockies in the 8th inning to give up the lead and , ultimately, send the game into extra innings. Andrew Cashner had pitched the first seven innings of the game, giving up just 3 runs on 7 hits.
For the second consecutive night, the Padres showed some mental toughness and strung together hits to score runs. Nobody on the team hit a home run, despite playing the game at hitter-friendly Coors Field in Denver. Five different Padres batters collected RBIs, including Yasmani Grandal, who grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded in the top of the 12th for the game-winning run.
Starting pitching has been the weakness of the 2012 San Diego Padres thus far, but starts like this from Cashner will help matters. There are three more games in this series, and a four game sweep by the Padres would mean moving right into contention for the NL West.
Yonder Alonso was put on the disabled list earlier today with a wrist injury, freeing up the roster spot for Maybin’s return. Mark Kotsay started in his place, going 0-for-4. Expect Kyle Blanks to be the regular starter at 1B until Alonso returns.