Mitchell, Padres beat San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — Bryan Mitchell’s first season with the San Diego Padres might not be his last, as he closed out his down-and-up 2018 with not only his best start but one of the best by a Padres pitcher this season.
Mitchell got within one out of becoming the first Padres pitcher to throw a complete game this season, and the Padres began the season’s final week by beating the San Francisco Giants 5-0 in the opener of a threegame series at AT&T Park.
Brandon Crawford led off the ninth inning with a double down the right-field line, the seventh hit off Mitchell. Nick Hundley then grounded to third before Mitchell walked Chris Shaw.
That brought manager Andy Green from the dugout. But after a brief conversation, Green departed with Mitchell still in the game.
He struck out Aramis Garcia but on his 118th pitch of the game issued a walk to Gorkys Hernandez that loaded the bases.
Green made another stroll to the mound and called for Kirby Yates, who earned his 11th save by striking out Austin Slater.
Mitchell was just the third Padres pitcher, along with rookies Eric Lauer and Jacob Nix, to get through eight scoreless innings this season and joined Lauer as the only one to go 8 2/3 innings.
With each of his four September starts, the right-hander increased his chances of at least being included in a crowded competition to be part of the Padres rotation in 2019.
It might still be a longshot, but it is no longer laughable.
Mitchell strung together three successive scoreless innings in just four of his first seven starts, a season-opening stretch in which he posted a 6.47 ERA in 32 innings. He has at least three straight scoreless innings in each of his past four starts since returning from a 2 {-month stay on the disabled list rehabbing an elbow injury and figuring out how to pitch effectively.
He held the Astros without a run for 5 2/3 innings on April 7 in Houston, taking 94 pitches to do so.
He was far more efficient Monday, taking 78 pitches to get through six innings, just six more to navigate the seventh and another 13 to finish the eighth, when he was still hitting 95 mph with his fastball.
Meanwhile, the Padres steadily pulled away by scoring in three straight innings and adding two more runs in the sixth.
Francisco Mejia hit a one-out double, went to third on Jose Pirela’s single and scored on a single by Manuel Margot in the second. The Padres added a run when Wil Myers led off the next inning with a double and scored on Franmil Reyes’ single, and they went up 3-0 on Jose Pirela’s homer leading off the fourth.