The Padres came away with a nice series win Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia as they took down the Phillies 3-2. Starter Joey Lucchesi gave the Padres the solid performance they were looking for as he held the Phillies to just two runs over his six innings of work, striking out four while only walking two batters. Lucchesi cruised along relatively comfortably until the sixth when he retired the first two Phillies he faced but got into a bit of trouble after walking Adam Haseley and allowing a game tying double to Jean Segura. On a day where the game time temperature was 90 degrees with 60% humidity (Phillies star Bryce Harper was actually removed from the game for dehydration after the fourth inning), despite laboring in the Philadelphia heat, Andy Green allowed Lucchesi to try and get himself out of the inning and he was able to get the job done by getting Corey Dickerson to pop out to right with his 109th and final pitch of the day to set a new high for Padres starters this season. That would prove to be big for Joey as he remained the pitcher of record when Austin Hedges came up to the plate and celebrated his 27th birthday in the best way possible:
ICYMI:@austinhedges18 celebrated his birthday in style with a solo home run in the 7th inning to give the @Padres the lead!@jesseagler had the call right here on @PadresRadio ! pic.twitter.com/lt08qb28EL
— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) August 18, 2019THE BIRTHDAY BOY COMES UP BIG! --#FriarFaithful | @Padres | @austinhedges18 pic.twitter.com/UmHUJgpzdD
— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD) August 18, 2019The home run was the third of Hedges four hits on the day (a new career high), and the bullpen held the line from there allowing Lucchesi to leave Philadelphia with his eigth win of the season. The quartet of Stammen, Strahm, Munoz, and Yates held the Phillies to just one base hit over their three innings of work. The win marked the first time since May (!) that the Padres have come away with the rubber game of a series, and they will look to carry that momentum into Cincinatti tomorrow afternoon when they open up a three game set with the Reds. Pregame coverage on 97.3 The Fan begins with Braden Surprenant at 3:10 PM, and Ted Leitner and Jesse Agler will take over for the call of the game with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 PM.
