France's 5 RBIs not enough to help Padres in Texas slugfest

ARLINGTON -- For the second game in a row, the Padres put a plethora of runs on the board. But the offensive outburst wasn't enough to help them avoid a 9-7 defeat in the series opener on Friday night at Globe Life Field. The evening was not a total waste, however, for San Diego first baseman Ty France.

France and the Padres got to Rangers starter Jacob deGrom right from the get-go in the series opener. They batted around in the top of the first. San Diego led, 1-0, and had the bases loaded by the time France came up to bat in the seventh spot. On a 1-0 pitch, France blasted a grand slam to right to give his team a 5-0 lead.

His night wasn’t finished, however. France homered off deGrom again in the top of the fourth, giving him eight blasts on the year and his second multihomer game of the season. He added to that already impressive performance with a double to left in the sixth.

Prior to the game, France said his team needed to hit more in this series than it has been lately.

“Plain and simple, the offense hasn’t been with us on this road trip,” France said. “We need to hit more to win going forward, and it starts with this series. Sometimes that’s the great thing about starting a new series. It’s even better when you can do it on the road.

“This has been a long road trip. We say it over and over again, but sometimes you dig yourself into a hole that you really can’t get out of. Hopefully, we can do that this weekend.”

Not only did France dig himself out of that hole, but he did it in a big way. He went 3-for-4 on the night against one of the Majors' best pitchers in deGrom, on deGrom’s City Connect bobblehead night of all nights.

Padres manager Craig Stammen expressed what a performance like this meant for France.

“I thought it was a big night for him,” Stammen said. “Ty has struggled this year, so for him to get his hits, especially off one of the best pitchers in baseball, was really good for him. We got five runs off [deGrom] in the first, and there aren’t many that can do that.

“When you get a big lead like that, you have to do what you can to protect it. deGrom settled down a little bit after that first inning, like all great pitchers do. We needed every run we could get. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

France entered Friday batting .245 with six home runs and 19 RBIs. He logged three-extra base hits in a game for the second time in his career, while also tallying a career-high 10 total bases, the most any player has collected against deGrom in a single game. His grand slam was the Padres’ second of the season, with Xander Bogaerts notching their first on April 9 against the Rockies. France boasts a .317 batting average with 12 homers and 40 RBIs in 65 games against the Rangers. He entered Friday in a 1-for-16 slump over his past six games.

Despite San Diego's five-run first-inning outburst seemingly setting the club up to take the series opener, it wasn’t to be. The Rangers, who have had difficulty scoring at Globe Life Field this year, responded with six runs of their own in the bottom of the first. In a strange twist, both teams batted around in the opening frame, scoring a combined 11 runs.