Diamondbacks 1, Padres 2: Pitching duel in the Desert

Well at least Rob Manfred will be happy

By Jack Sommers Apr 13, 2019, 1:21am EDT

Luke Weaver, and the Diamondbacks came out on the short end of the stick of a very well played pitcher’s duel tonight, losing to the Padres and Chris Paddack 2-1., in a game time of just 2:38

Manny Machado hit an opposite field solo homerun to right with two outs in the first inning. It looked like Weaver might be in for a rough night, as there were also a couple of basehits robbed by good defensive plays from Wilmer Flores and David Peralta. From there however Weaver would not only settle down, but dominate for the next 5 innings, allowing only 2 hits and not walking anyone while striking out 8 through 6 innings of work. He was locating his fastball, working ahead getting first pitch strikes, and keeping Padres hitters off balance with his changeup, cutter, and occasional curve ball.

Chris Paddack meanwhile was just as good. Landing 17 of 20 first pitch strikes, he allowed only one run in the 3rd inning. Jarrod Dyson doubled to leadoff, and came around one out later on a David Peralta base hit to tie it up at one a piece.

Perhaps Andy Green had the better game plan in this one, as he pulled Paddack after 5 ¹⁄₃ IP and 88 pitches thrown, (66 for strikes) In all he allowed just the one run on 3 hits, 1 walk, and 5 K’s.

The Padres bullpen was flawless , retiring 11 batters in a row, and the DBacks would never have another baserunner after the 3rd inning, with the Padres retiring 19 straight Diamondback hitters.

Weaver came out for the 7th inning having only thrown 83 pitches. Franmil Reyes flew out deep to the track in right to start the inning however. Then Wil Myers ripped a double putting the go ahead run on second.

It is at this point some might have wondered if pulling Weaver right then and there should have happened, but when asked, Lovullo said he did not hesitate at all to let his young starter try to get out of the jam. Once again that strategy backfired however as Fernando Tatis Jr crushed a double to the base of the wall in right over Adam Jones head to score the go ahead run. That was all the Padres would need for the rest of the night.

Still, it was a very encouraging start for the young right hander and his final line of 6 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 0 walks, 8 K’s 1 HR. is a line that should get you a win 8 times out of 10. The bullpen was good too, as Yoshi Hirano, Yoan Lopez, and Greg Holland combined to allow just 2 walks, no hits, and 4 K’s to the 10 batters they faced. The defense was also flawless tonight. But none of that is much consolation for the loss and woeful performance of the hitters on this night.