Padres a Strong Opponent For 1st Place Yanks

The Padres were a difficult matchup for the Yankees. However, Carlos Rondon pitched well for the Yankees over 6 and two-thirds innings, and the Yankees lost 4-3. The main story of this game, however, was the rain. The game was delayed 28 minutes by rain and another 28 minutes in the fourth inning. Thankfully, Anthony Volpe was back in this game against the Padres. It started to rain again in the eighth inning. Do you understand why MLB feels compelled to get these games in?

Lineups

The San Diego Padres had Fernando Tatis Jr. as the right fielder and batting leadoff. Tatis was ejected in the eighth inning. Jayson Hayward replaced him and played left field. Luis Arraez was the first baseman and batted second. Manny Machado batted third and was the third baseman. Xander Bogaerts was the shortstop and batted fourth.

Luis Campusano was the designated hitter and was batting fifth. Oscar Gonzalez was the left fielder and batted sixth. He moved to right field in the eighth inning. Elias Díaz was the catcher and batted seventh. Gavin Sheets pinch-hit for him in the sixth inning. Martin Maldanado took over at catcher in the seventh inning. Tyler Wade, a former Yankee, was the second baseman and batted eighth. Brandon Lockridge was the center fielder and batted ninth. 

For the Yankees, Trent Grisham batted first and was the center fielder. Aaron Judge batted second and was the right fielder. Ben Rice was the designated hitter and batted third. Paul Goldschmidt was the first baseman and batted fourth. Cody Bellinger was the right fielder and batted fifth. Anthony Volpe was the shortstop, batting sixth. Austin Wells was the catcher and batted seventh. Oswald Peraza was the third baseman batting eighth. Jasson Dominguez pinch-hit for him in the ninth. Jorbit Vivas was the second baseman, batting ninth. 

Scoring Summary: Padres Are a Tough Opponent

In the third inning, the Yankees took a 2-0 lead when Trent Grisham hit a 2-run home run. Jorbit Vivas, who had walked, also scored. That was his ninth home run of the year, which matches his total from last season.

In the sixth inning, the Yankees extended their lead to 3-0 as Volpe hit a sacrifice fly and Goldschmidt scored.

In the eighth inning, Manny Machado doubled, and Wade and Lockridge scored. That cut the Yankee lead to 3-2, and then Bogaerts drove in two with a single. Both Arraz and Machado scored. That made it 4-3 Padres.

Game Notes 

There was very bad weather with a great deal of rain. It is interesting, but with this balanced schedule, all teams play all other teams, and this was the only time the Padres played games in the Bronx, so there was some pressure to get the game in. This pressure was alleviated somewhat by the fact that this was the first, not the last, game of the series. The game started late because of a rain delay, and it was going to rain all game. However, the weather was pretty warm, in the upper 50s. It rained the entire game, and the game was delayed again at the bottom of the fourth inning.

More on the weather. MLB wants to get this game in because the Padres only come to play in the Bronx once this year. If the game is postponed, it will be continued tomorrow, but both starting pitchers will be lost. It is worth noting that with the game already in the bottom of the fourth inning, the teams only need to play another inning and a half to make the game official.

The game resumed after a 28-minute rain delay.

The game marked the return of two former Yankees on the Padres roster. Michael King and Tyler Wade both played for the Yankees. They are both part of a proud tradition of former Yankees doing well for other teams after they are traded to them or signed with them.

Judge is hitting .423. Even with his 1-5 yesterday. He had a career-long and major league-leading 14-game hitting streak and a 30-game on-base streak coming into the game.

Rodon had another 5 strikeouts today. That means he has 63 total. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, and this was his fourth strong start in a row.

Conclusion

 This series against the 22-11 and second-place San Diego Padres in the National League West. The Padres are a difficult test for the New York Yankees. Despite the Yankees having very good starting pitching for this series, they could easily get swept. The Yankees lost two of three games in the second series of the year to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are behind the Padres in the National League West standings. One good thing for the Yankees is that their bullpen is in good shape because they used low-leverage relief pitchers in yesterday’s loss to the Rays. With this loss against the Padres, that makes three home losses in a row for the Yankees.