Padres squander bases-loaded threat in 9th and lose again
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres came close to getting their first home win of 2016 before Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler denied them by escaping a big jam in the ninth inning.
"We just couldn't get the job done," rookie manager Andy Green said after the Padres lost 3-2 Friday night.
Jake Lamb dashed home with the go-ahead run on a soft infield single by pinch-hitter Phil Gosselin with one out in the top of the ninth.
Ziegler then got Jon Jay to ground into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.
The Padres dropped to 0-4 at home. However, Alexei Ramirez and Alexi Amarista drove in the team's first runs in San Diego this season.
James Shields pitched seven strong innings.
"I felt good for a while," he said. "I don't really like losing so I'm not really too happy about the game. We've got to find a way to win."
Lamb reached on an infield single against Fernando Rodney (0-1) to start the ninth, stole second and went to third when the throw by catcher Derek Norris bounced into center field for an error. Lamb then scored when Gosselin hit a dribbler to first base.
Daniel Hudson (1-0) earned the win in relief of Zack Greinke, who lost his first two starts with Arizona. Greinke was lifted after allowing Wil Myers' double with one out in the eighth. He allowed two runs and six hits, struck out five and walked one.
Ziegler earned his second save. The Padres put runners at the corners with nobody out on singles by Cory Spangenberg and Ramirez before Ziegler struck out Amarista as Ramirez stole second. After an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Brett Wallace, Jay grounded into an easy 6-4-3 double play.
"The players are not lacking in effort, intensity, desire. In my mind a defensive miscue is what caused it to unravel for us, and that's what we can't have happen," Green said.
The Padres have set a handful of big league records for futility at the start of the season. Their 3-0 loss at Philadelphia on Thursday, in which Vince Velasquez struck out 16 in a three-hitter, was their fifth shutout in their first 10 games, the first time that's happened in the majors. They became the first team to be shut out in their first three games when they were outscored 25-0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers. San Diego then extended its MLB record for scoreless innings to open a season to 30 before winning 13-6 at Colorado on April 8.
Arizona's Welington Castillo homered off Shields leading off the second.
San Diego finally got on the scoreboard at Petco Park this season in the bottom of the inning. Melvin Upton Jr. was thrown out trying to score from third on Spangenberg's grounder. Spangenberg took second on the play and scored on Ramirez's single. Melvin Upton Jr. originally had been called out trying to steal third but it was overturned after Green challenged.
The Padres took their first lead at home this year when Norris scored on Amarista's single with two outs in the fourth.
Arizona tied it in the seventh when Yasmany Tomas doubled with one out and scored on Nick Ahmed's two-run double.
Shields allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked four.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: Green said RHP Tyson Ross won't be back by Wednesday when he's eligible to come off the disabled list. Ross, sidelined with a sore right shoulder, has yet to resume throwing. "We're hoping to see him pick up a ball in the next couple of days, maybe Monday at the latest," Green said.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller (0-1, 8.18 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday night.
Padres: RHP Andrew Cashner (0-1, 8.00) pitches for San Diego.