After losing the first two games in Los Angeles, the San Diego Padres held rookie phenom Yasiel Puig hitless and defeated the Dodgers in the final game of the series.
Jason Marquis gave the Padres another strong outing, improving his record to 7-2 on the season, and just about everyone in the Padres’ lineup hit well despite facing the Dodgers’ best Pitcher, Clayton Kershaw. San Diego’s 3-2 lead was blown open in the 9th inning, when they scored 3 more runs against Paco Rodriguez.
Youngsters Everth Cabrera (3-for-5, R, SB) and Jedd Gyorko (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs, BB, 2 R) continued swinging hot sticks, while Chase Headley (1-for-3, 2 BB, R) and Yasmani Grandal (1-for-3, BB, 2 RBIs), who have been struggling mightily, were patient at the plate and it paid off.
Jesus Guzman, who seemed destined to be the odd man out when Cameron Maybin returns from injury, has been making the most of his chances lately. He was a key contributor on Wednesday night, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. I don’t know that he’s earned the right to stay when Maybin returns, because he’s a lesser version of Kyle Blanks at this point, but it probably won’t be long until he returns to the big league team.
Games like these show the potential of the San Diego Padres and their young core, but make the issues with starting pitching that much more glaring. Major injuries to Cory Luebke, Casey Kelly and Joe Wieland will probably be too much to overcome in 2013, but there should be one heck of an offense waiting for them to come back and contend in 2014.