PITCHING DOMINATES, BUT PADRES STILL LOSE GAME TWO 1-0

By Liz Alper

Photo:  view from the Padres’ dugout, courtesy @Padres on Twitter

April 26, 2016 (San Francisco) - Night two of the Pads’ stay in the bay area featured a much more even pitching matchup:  Johnny Cueto (who has cooled off a bit following his last excellent World Series-winning season for the Kansas City Royals) for San Francisco against James Shields for San Diego.

A strange thing happened in this game:  neither team scored in the first four innings.  Denard Span started the scoring for the Giants with a double in the fifth that scored Brandon Crawford and San Fran took a 1-0 lead.  That was all the Giants needed to win game two.  Pitching was king in this game.  Day baseball tomorrow as the Pads take on the Giants in the series finale, a 12:45 p.m. start. 

In transaction news, the Padres have optioned second baseman Jose Pirela to El Paso and designated pitcher Cory Mazzoni for assignment.  Austin Hedges is out six to eight weeks with a broken bone in his hand and will require surgery.