SD 4-run homer powers SF to 6-1 win, dropping Kim’s OPS to .794

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Of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, the San Diego Padres are the only one with a positive run differential of five runs or less.

The Padres swept the division rival San Francisco Giants, 6-1, at Petco Park on April 3. They are now 64-73 on the season.메이저사이트

The Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks lost at the same time to fall to 70-66, while the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Chicago Cubs 2-1 to remain in a three-way tie for the third wild card at 71-67.

The Padres have a run differential of +58. The American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins (71-65) are at +52. The Padres’ plus/minus run differential ranks fifth in the National League. They are 11th in all of MLB. However, their record is not proportional to their run differential, which is in the bottom quartile. This makes them a very strange team.

All six runs scored on the day were home runs. Juan Soto’s 27th in the first, Xander Bogaerts’ 16th and Gary Sanchez’ 19th, and a three-run blast by Garrett Cooper’s 15th in the sixth. All were allowed by Giants starting left-hander Kyle Harrison. All three except Soto were hit by right-handers. The Padres out-hit the Giants, 6-5.

The reason the Padres are in the top four despite their high run differential and their postseason chances are slim is because they are weak in pitching matchups, one-run games, and extra innings. Their clutch ability is non-existent. They are 19-39 in games decided by one or two runs, 6-22 in games decided by one run, and 0-11 in extra innings. They are 1-59 when trailing after 8 innings. It’s because they’re lethargic at the plate in situations where high-paid players should be hitting.

Kim went 0-for-4 at the top of the order. His batting average dropped to .274 and his OPS to .794. This is the first time his OPS has fallen below 0.700 since July 24. It’s been 36 games since he recorded his first MLB multi-homer game on Aug. 25 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, which raised his OPS to .810.

Meanwhile, Padres starting left-hander Blake Snell pitched six innings of three-hit, four-run ball with eight strikeouts to improve to 12-9 on the season and lower his ERA to 2.50. He maintained his season high in strikeouts (89) and first place in ERA. He also added eight strikeouts to reach 201 for the season. The 200-strikeout club is five years removed from the 221-strikeout club in 2018 when he won the American League Cy Young Award.