The Major League Baseball season is 162 games long, so there’s no need to overreact to a few bad nights.
That said, it’s been a pretty rough three days for the San Diego Padres.
The Padres suffered a brutal Opening Day loss Monday at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, being shut out 15-0. The Dodgers blanked the Padres again Tuesday in a 3-0 win, then blitzed their National League West rivals one more time Wednesday in a 7-0 shutout.
For those scoring at home, the Padres have been outscored 25-0 this season. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, they are the first team in MLB history to be shut out in their first three games of the season.
The St. Louis Browns previously held that dubious distinction, going 26 innings without scoring a run to start the 1943 season. San Diego now has taken the crown, thanks to a horrific offensive performance: The Padres have tallied just 11 hits while striking out 28 times, and they have exactly one extra-base hit, a Yangervis Solarte double.
There’s obviously another way to look at San Diego’s terrible start, as L.A. received great efforts out of starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda as part of their excellent start to the 2016 season. The Padres aren’t exactly expected to contend for a World Series title, but this is an incredibly small sample size against a quality opponent.
We have more good news if you’re a Padres fan: San Diego will travel to hitter-friendly Coors Field on Friday to begin a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies. And if the Padres can’t score there, well, maybe they’re in trouble.
Thumbnail photo via Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports Images
