April 16, 2012
Clayton Richard was on last night at Dodger Stadium. He made 2 mistakes (the only 2 hits he would allow), a leadoff double to Chris Capuano in the 3rd (Capuano would later score) and a solo homerun to Mark Ellis in the 6th. He was very good the rest of the game, only struggling with his control (he walked 5, but none of the runners would score). He exited after the 7th inning with the Padres trailing 2-0.
Chris Capuano was just as good as Richard. One start removed from an awful performance against the same Padres team, he allowed 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 9 in 6 innings of work. His ERA dropped from a ridiculous 47.26 to a more respectable (still not great) 7.56 ERA in 1 start.
Following Richard's exit, Edinson Volquez pitched an inning and allowed 2 unearned runs (off a throwing error by Chase Headley) and 2 hits to put the game out of reach for San Diego.
But it wasn't like the Padres didn't have opportunities. They put runners on 1st and 2nd in both the 8th and 9th innings with 1 out, but Blake Tekotte and Kyle Blanks grounded into double plays to end the scoring threats.
The Padres will have to rebound from a rough stretch when they travel to Colorado to face the Rockies (6-3). They will send out Joel Pineiro (1-1, 2.14 ERA) to face Jeremy Guthrie (2-0, 4.50 ERA) as the Padres try to get back to winning ways.