Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Edinson Volquez got off to a very rough start to the 2013 Major League Baseball season. However, he received the right boost of confidence Wednesday night after tossing his best outing of the season thus far against the red hot Milwaukee Brewers.
Volquez was 0-3 with an 8.84 earned run average and 29 surrendered hits in four starts prior to Wednesday’s outing. Everything was going wrong for him and he could not string together solid starts. However, a quality start against the San Francisco Giants on April 19 clearly propelled him in the right direction.
The 29-year-old allowed five hits and struck out three batters in seven scoreless innings against the hottest team in baseball. He also did not walk a single batter for the first time this season. Milwaukee’s offense was stifled by Volquez’s sinkerball, as the team could not get anything going.
San Diego desperately needed the win, even if it came at the hands of a controversial call by the home plate umpire. The Padres had lost five straight games, and a sixth loss in a row prior to their showdown with the Giants this weekend would have been detrimental. Considering San Francisco swept San Diego last weekend, the Padres needed some sort of momentum heading into the series.
There is no question that Volquez is a very talented starting pitcher. In fact, the Brewers were hoping that he had one more bad start in him so they could get past him before he got hot on the mound. Now, the Padres are hoping the quality start streak continues.
Michael Terrill is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelTerrill, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
