The Padres current 6-game road trip is serving as a solid reminder of why people rave about the weather in San Diego.
Saturday’s game in Philadelphia was delayed by two hours by rain. The 4th inning saw another delay, although it lasted less than an hour. The first five games of the Padres roadie through Cincinnati and Philadelphia have all been delayed by rain.
As a comparison, since Petco Park opened in 2004 it’s experienced a total of seven rain delays. It really makes one wonder why MLB doesn’t just put the All-Star Game here every July.
I don’t know if it’s grinding on the Friars but they were just a little bit off in a 4-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park.
Manny Machado got the scoring started in the 1st inning with a 2-run home run to straightaway centerfield off former Padres farmhand Zach Eflin to make it 2-0 Friars.
Yu Darvish, making one final start before the All-Star rosters are announced on Sunday, stumbled in the 2nd inning. He left two pitches out over the plate and Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins hit them out of the park for a pair of solo homers that tied it 2-2.
Darvish settled in and was on the mound with two outs in the 4th inning when the umpires called for the tarps to come out on the field again. Both teams retreated to their clubhouses and about 45 minutes later, Darvish came back out to keep pitching.
He got Didi Gregorius to line out to Jake Cronenworth at 2nd base to end the etremely long 4th inning and they kept on playing.
In the 6th J.T. Realmuto lined a triple off the top of the right field wall and scored on a Harper sacrifice fly and Philly had a 3-2 lead. Darvish sustained more damage in the 6th when Hoskins doubled home Andrew McCutchen to make it 4-2 Phillies.
After that Eflin was out and the Friars got into the Phillies bullpen, a unit that’s blown 22 saves this season. Saturday night would not be number 23.
The Padres failed to score again and now hope to salvage one game in the 3-game set on Sunday afternoon.
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