Padres hit into first triple play at Petco in loss to Phils
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Jabari Blash chopped a grounder toward third base and immediately feared for the worst.
"I knew there was a chance for a triple play," he said.
San Diego's pinch-hitter was right. The Philadelphia Phillies went around the horn for the first triple play ever at Petco Park, then took advantage of a key error to beat the Padres 6-5 on Sunday.
A throwing error by rookie shortstop Jose Rondon on Cesar Hernandez's grounder was costly in the seventh. Rondon's two-base error set up pinch-hitter Tommy Joseph's two-out RBI single to score Hernandez with the go-ahead run.
But it was the bottom of the inning that the Padres were still kicking themselves about.
The Padres were gifted two walks to open the seventh, but then Blash hit into the 5-4-3 triple play.
With runners on first and second, Blash hit a grounder to Maikel Franco at third. He stepped on the bag and fired to second baseman Hernandez to erase Rondon. Hernandez's relay to first beat Blash by a step.
"I'm someone that wants to bring that tying run in or potentially put us ahead," Blash said. "It wasn't the ideal situation."
It was the Phillies' first triple play since doing it against the New York Mets on Aug. 23, 2009.
Jerad Eickhoff (7-12) pitched six innings, surrendering five runs (four earned) and five hits with five strikeouts as the Phillies claimed the series.
Brad Hand (3-3) took the loss.
Starter Jarred Cosart recorded a season-high five strikeouts over his five innings. He was charged with five runs, 10 hits and no walks.
"I would grade myself much better today than my last start," he said. "I was calmed down. I tried to settle in a little."
Padres manager Andy Green agreed.
"I thought he was better today," he said. "He was in the strike zone. He gave us a chance."
Ryan Schimpf's 326-foot game-tying two-run homer just stayed fair down the right-field line and capped the Padres' three-run sixth inning.
Alex Dickerson's seventh homer of the year in the fourth pulled the Padres within 5-2.
Philadelphia sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth to seize a 5-1 edge as Cosart got knocked around. Most of the damage came with two outs.
San Diego tied it at 1 in the third, thanks to some sloppy Philadelphia defense. Derek Norris opened with a single and Franco then flagged down Rondon's hot grounder at third, but Franco's errant throw to second went into right field for an error. Norris eventually scored on Travis Jankowski's groundout.
The Phillies struck in the first inning. Odubel Herrera turned on Cosart's 92-mph fastball for a solo homer, his 12th on the season. That snapped a string of 13 consecutive innings that the Phillies had failed to score with Eickhoff pitching.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Zach Eflin (3-4, 4.77) gets the nod as the team continues its West Coast swing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. Eflin has won but once in his last four starts, which includes two no-decisions. It is Eflin's first outing against the Dodgers, a team he was traded to by the San Diego Padres before he landed with the Phillies.
Padres: RHP Luis Perdomo (5-5, 6.67) kicks off the Padres' road trip in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Perdomo has given up three runs of less in seven of his last nine starts since June 15. He was tagged for a loss in his last outing, working 6 2/3 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.
