LATE RALLY NOT ENOUGH; PADRES LOSE GAME ONE 3-2

By Liz Alper

Photo courtesy @Padres on Twitter

April 15, 2016 (San Diego) - The Padres came back to Petco Park tonight to greet the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, hoping for a better home stand than their opening series against the Dodgers.

The entire game saw a great pitcher’s duel between James Shields and Zack Greinke, but in the second, the D-Backs’ Welington Castillo cracked Shields and hit a solo homer to give Arizona a 1-0 lead.

The Padres got it right back in the bottom of the second when Alexei Ramirez singled to left and drove in Cory Spangenberg.  The score was tied at one after two.

Alexi Amarista lined it to left in the fourth to drive home Derek Norris and the Padres took a 2-1 lead.

Three innings later, just when you thought Shields was a good pitcher, he gives up an RBI double to Nick Ahmed to tie the game at two. 

A few pitcher’s duel innings followed, then in the ninth, the Padres gave the snakes the lead in the most anti-climatic way possible; a bungled throw from Norris in attempt to prevent a stolen base went into center field and advanced a runner to third and on the next at-bat, a single drove in a run to make the score 3-2 Diamondbacks.

The Padres loaded the bases in the ninth, but Jon Jay grounded into a double play and the DBacks took game one 3-2.

The NL West rivals are back at it tomorrow, with Andrew Cashner getting the start for San Diego and Shelby Miller for Arizona.