It wasn’t a mystery how the San Diego Padres followed a 15-4 start by going 2-7 in their next nine games. Their offense went from robust to non-existent, managing just three runs in a four-game losing streak.
Nor was it a mystery that they snapped the skid Tuesday night when Luis Arraez (concussion) and Jason Heyward (knee) returned from the injured list. A reinforced lineup produced 11 hits and three multiple-run innings, three more than the team had in a week, during a 7-4 win over the San Francisco Giants.
The buoyed attack will try to support right-hander Michael King (3-1, 2.18 ERA) in the same manner Wednesday afternoon against San Francisco when San Diego closes the two-game series and a five-game homestand.
“We got two of our starters back in the lineup,” Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts said, “and it boosted our lineup a little bit.”
In a sense, one could say the version of Bogaerts that played Tuesday night was like getting a new player. The four-time All-Star who knocked in just five runs in the Padres’ first 28 games drove in three, singling home the first run in a three-run first and then lining a two-run homer down the left field line to cap the scoring in the seventh.
For at least one night, Bogaerts quieted an increasingly growing share of skeptics who were calling for San Diego to play anyone else at shortstop.
“We were scuffling, and we needed this one,” he said.
King will hope for the same kind of run support while angling for a longer outing than the one he produced on Friday night, when he lasted five innings in a 1-0 home loss to Tampa Bay. He allowed only four hits and an unearned run with a walk and nine strikeouts but was tagged with the loss.
In four career outings against the Giants, King is 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA, earning both wins last season.
San Francisco will counter with right-hander Landen Roupp (2-1, 4.56), who’s coming off a no-decision Thursday in his team’s 6-5 home win over Milwaukee. Roupp lasted just 3 2/3 innings, permitting six hits and five runs (three earned). He walked three and struck out two.
Roupp, in just his second season, has pitched eight scoreless innings in four career outings against the Padres, including five innings last September in his one start against them. He has no decisions.
While the Giants fell out of a first-place tie in the National League West with the loss on Tuesday, they had a couple of positive developments offensively.
Willy Adames homered and doubled, a good sign for a player who came into the game hitting .202, and LaMonte Wade Jr. gave his anemic .110 average a much-needed boost with a two-run double.
“I feel good at the plate; I feel comfortable,” Wade said. “I’m making good contact, but it’s just going right at people.”
There is data to back up Wade’s assessment. Going into Tuesday night’s game, his batting average on balls in play was a shocking .135, less than half of his career norm of .279. A progression to the mean would help an offense that’s hitting only .229 as a team.
–Field Level Media
