The Padres were forced to dip into their farm system for a starter Monday night, after Andrew Cashner was placed on the disabled list with a sore shoulder. Cuban-born Odrisamer Despaigne replaced Cashner on Monday evening and certainly pitched like an ace. Despaigne threw seven shutout innings, and San Diego cruised to 6-0 victory over first-place San Francisco.
Despite the lopsided score, the game featured some controversy. In the fourth inning, Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal appeared to hit a three-run dinger to right field. However, the Giants challenged the call, citing fan inference. Upon further review, a Giants fan did indeed touch the ball, as it was a few feet short of a home run. Instead of a three-run jack, the play was ruled a double, and only one run scored. Padres skipper Bud Black was tossed after arguing the result of the replay.
With runners on second and third, Tommy Medica delivered with a two-run double to left that scored Seth Smith and Grandal. The hit gave the Padres a 3-0 lead they would not relinquish.
The story of the evening was the brilliance of Despaigne. He allowed just four hits and did not walk anyone. He only struck out one batter, but induced 11 groundball outs. He did a masterful job of keeping the ball down and worked both sides of the plate efficiently. The performance was a bit of a surprise, as Despaigne posted a 7.61 ERA in five Triple-A starts for El Paso.
The Padres chased out Giants starter Matt Cain in the 8th inning, when they scored three runs off of the right-hander. Everth Cabrera delivered with a two-run single and Seth Smith had an RBI double. Cain took the loss for San Francisco, as he allowed six earned runs in 7.1 innings. The two teams will continue their four-game series tomorrow evening.
Notable: San Diego: Everth Cabrera, 2-for-4, 2 RBI's. Seth Smith: 2-for-4, RBI.