Odor clears bases ... and Padres' minds: 'Relief'

SAN DIEGO -- If you've watched much of these Padres over the past few weeks, you probably had a guess as to how things might unfold in the first inning on Sunday afternoon.

San Diego had loaded the bases with nobody out. And although Matt Carpenter’s walk plated the game's first run, the Padres made two unproductive outs and found themselves staring down the prospect of leaving another big inning on the table without that elusive clutch hit.

Then Rougned Odor -- an especially unlikely spark -- laced a double into the right-field corner. The bases emptied, the weight was lifted, and the Padres were on their way to a 7-0 victory over the Red Sox at Petco Park.

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Manager Bob Melvin summed it up in one word: “Relief.”

Did this Padres offense ever crave a hit like that one -- a game like this one.

“This is what we needed,” Odor said. “This is who we are. From today, that’s how we’re going to do it.”

Much has been made about the team’s struggles with men in scoring position this season. Those numbers have reached historic lows. In a way, Odor’s two-out, two-strike double merely qualified as sweet, sweet regression to the mean for the Padres (though they still finished the game 1-for-10 with RISP).

“You know what? I don’t even listen to that,” Odor said. “I don’t listen to what they say about us not hitting good right now with runners in scoring position. That’s in the past.”

The reality is bigger than any RISP struggles. Baserunner or no baserunner, this offense has underperformed. On paper one of the best lineups in baseball, the Padres rank in the bottom 10 in nearly every offensive category.

All along, the Padres have insisted that they needed one breakout performance to turn things around. It’s too early to say whether that will prove true. Their Sunday breakout came mostly against Red Sox righty Corey Kluber, who has struggled this season. But at the very least, this was the breakout they’ve been talking about.

“At some point you’ve got to stop the bleeding and have a game like today,” said designated hitter Matt Carpenter, who tacked on a two-run homer in the third. “We can build off some of that momentum we created and get on a tear like we know that we’re capable of.”

For the first time in ages, the Padres gave their pitching staff breathing room. Not that they needed it. Michael Wacha pitched six brilliant innings extending his scoreless streak to 15 innings -- the best on the team this year. The bullpen, meanwhile, extended its scoreless streak to 30 1/3 innings.

It has been quite a run for the San Diego relief corps -- a run that’s been overshadowed by the offense’s struggles. Rookie Tom Cosgrove has been particularly impressive, with eight scoreless outings, including a 1-2-3 seventh with two strikeouts on Sunday, requiring just seven pitches.

But those dominant Padres relievers haven’t been given many leads to protect. Entering play Sunday, the Padres had dropped 11 of 13 and four straight. Then Odor flipped that script.

“I know we’re going through a tough start,” Odor said. “But this is a long season, and we’ve got plenty of games left. … I believe in everybody in this clubhouse.”

Odor tacked on another RBI double in the sixth and an outstanding diving play in the eighth. With a runner on first, he made a ridiculous two-hop throw to shortstop Xander Bogaerts to get the forceout.

It was quite a performance for a player on the fringe of the roster, who had entered play Sunday with just a .495 OPS.

“Over the years, I’ve managed against him,” Melvin said. “No matter what he’s hitting, no matter who he’s facing, he is unafraid. Those are the type of guys that, in those situations, I think probably feel less pressure than maybe some others. Give him credit.”

It’s been a while since the Padres had a game like this. They hadn’t plated four runs in an inning all season outside of the Mexico City altitude. They hadn’t scored seven runs in a game since May 3.

And now comes the hard part: Building on it. After an off-day Monday, the Padres begin a nine-game road trip against the Nationals, Yankees and Marlins. They’ll at least fly across the country with a performance worth building on.

“It’s been such a struggle, and it’s been hard on everybody,” Melvin said. “When you travel, you always talk about a happy flight. There are a lot of things that add up to making us feel a heck of a lot better about winning this game.”