Pitching reinforcements arrived for the Padres on Sunday in the form of veteran starter Lucas Giolito. After making four Minor League starts since signing with the Padres in April, the veteran righty debuted on Sunday with a chance to help the Padres complete a three-game road sweep of the Mariners. Giolito didn't look rusty at all, efficiently navigating through the first five innings of the game, yielding just one hit and no runs. Giolito returned to pitch the 6th with a 7-0 lead after throwing just 58 pitches through the first 5 innings, but walked the first three batters he faced to load the bases with no outs, thus ending his day. Yuki Matsui then entered the game and walked Josh Naylor, then gave up two sacrifice flies, allowing three runs to score, all of which were charged to Giolito in what was still a very impressive debut, and one that should provide the organization with optimism moving forward.
The Padres built a 7-0 lead thanks to a monster game from Gavin Sheets, capping off a phenomenal week for the lefty slugger. Sheets blasted a solo home run off of George Kirby in the first inning, and went deep again in San Diego's five-run 6th inning, hitting a two-run shot to right field to give the Padres a 4-0 lead. Jackson Merrill added an RBI-double and Ty France drove in two more runs with a single to center to make it a 7-0 game. Sheets added an RBI-double in the 7th inning, to go along with two walks, as he reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 3-3 with two home runs and four RBIs. Yuki Matsui and Bradgley Rodriguez each pitched two innings in relief, as Craig Stammen was able to preserve his high leverage arms for the start of the Dodgers series on Monday.
You can watch the Jamul Casino Resort Padres Postgame Show below, with full highlights from the game and Craig Stammen's postgame press conference.
