San Diego Padres right fielder Matt Kemp hit his first home run as a member of the Friars on Saturday afternoon, but the team was defeated 7-6 by the Chicago Cubs in 11 innings at Wrigley Field.
The Padres rallied from a four-run deficit in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game 6-6, thanks to RBI’s from left fielder Justin Upton, third baseman Will Middlebrooks, second baseman Jedd Gyorko and infielder Yangervis Solarte.
However, shortstop Starlin Castro‘s RBI single in the 11th provided the Cubs with the walk-off win.
It took Kemp 46 at-bats to hit his first Friars home run, as he launched a two-run shot to deep left-center in the first inning, right into the heart of the Chicago wind.
“A good swing; hit the ball hard, see what happens,” Kemp said to Padres.com. “We hit a lot of balls hard here today, some went, some didn’t. I hit that one hard and it made it through [the wind].”
He would finish the game 2-5 with two RBIs.Upton also finished the game 2-5, while adding a double and an RBI.
Right hander Craig Kimbrel took his first loss of the season, as left hander Zac Rosscup picked up his first win of the season for the Cubs.
The Padres (7-5) and Cubs (6-4) will play the rubber match of the series on Sunday at 11:20 a.m.
Right hander Andrew Cashner (0-2, 4.09 ERA) will get the start against left hander Jon Lester (0-1, 7.84 ERA).
