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Shift backfires on Padres in seventh inning
- Updated: May 6, 2016
SAN DIEGO — For 6 2/3 innings during Thursday night’s 5-3 victory over the Mets, the Padres’ defense was right where it needed to be, positioned perfectly to turn would-be singles into easy groundouts behind a history-chasing Colin Rea.
Then, in the seventh, Yoenis Cespedes hit a slow bouncer to the right side — routine for any second baseman playing in his usual position.
Jemile Weeks was not playing in his usual position.
With Weeks stationed on the wrong side of the second-base bag, that grounder trickled into the outfield for the Mets’ first hit of the night against Rea, ending his bid to become the first pitcher in Padres history to record a no-hitter.
The shift giveth; the shift taketh away.
“It saved more hits tonight than it gave up,” Rea said afterward.
Rea was brilliant Thursday, tossing a career-high eight innings and allowing just three hits. Ultimately, it was the shift that cost him a chance at etching his name in Padres lore. But the same strategy kept his no-no …
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