San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
FINDING A WAY
Trent Grisham hits a two-run homer in the seventh as Padres rally past Texas.
There is a game almost every tomorrow in baseball.
So even though Trent Grisham was so jacked up he had a difficult time falling asleep Friday night, he knew he had to get back at it Saturday as if Joe Musgrove hadn’t thrown the first nohitter ever by a Padres pitcher.
“It’s history, it was fun,” Grisham said. “But at the end of the day, we have a job to do. We have a big goal at the end of the season.”
So the Padres came out and won 7-4 Saturday after Grisham’s two-run homer in the seventh inning put them ahead for the first time.
It actually took some doing for them to not follow such a high with a lull.
They were doing everything right in the first few innings except scoring. They were fouling off pitch after pitch, looking at balls, getting on base, driving Texas Rangers starter Jordan Lyles’ pitch count up. Yet they trailed 3-0.
They ended three straight innings (and later another one) by grounding into double plays. They started two innings by hitting home runs. They scored their final run when a ball went through the webbing of a glove.
Solo home runs by Eric Hosmer (his third of the season) and Ha-seong Kim (his first in the majors) to start the fourth and fifth innings helped bring the Padres back from an early deficit. Then came Grisham’s blast to right field after Kim had walked with one out in the seventh.
Kim’s grounder to shortstop appeared as if it would end the eighth inning with Jake Cronenworth stranded at third, but Isiah Kinerfalefa’s throw passed through the webbing of first baseman Nate Lowe’s glove and trickled into foul territory as Kim crossed the base and Cronenworth ran home to make it 7-4.
Starting pitcher Chris Paddack allowed three runs in four innings for the second straight start. All three runs came in a span of four batters — on two doubles, a triple and a walk, in the second inning.
He retired the final five batters he faced to make it through four innings, but manager Jayce Tingler opted to use his fresh bullpen, which hadn’t had any work since Wednesday following Thursday’s day off and Musgrove’s complete game.
“I was very pleased how I handled myself, staying positive out there, showing I wasn’t losing confidence in my pitches and keeping us in the game,” Paddack said. “… It was frustrating getting pulled, but I want to pitch in October.”
He would have gone back out for the fifth if the Padres had taken the lead, but after Tommy Pham tied the game by driving in Wil Myers with a sacrifice fly, Luis Campusano grounded into the Padres’ third straight inningending double play.
Ryan Weathers relieved Paddack and after getting the first out, left a 3-1 fastball in the middle of the strike zone that Kiner-falefa lined into the left-field seats to put the Rangers back ahead. Weathers got through the sixth without further damage and was awarded his first career win because the Padres scored the three runs in the top of the seventh.
Keone Kela and Tim Hill combined to get through the seventh inning, Drew Pomeranz struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth and Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
Lamet back soon?
Something else good happened for a Padres starting pitcher Saturday night.
It occurred in Arizona, a couple states away from where Musgrove was making history.
What Dinelson Lamet did in throwing 56 pitches in an alternate site game against players in the Dodgers organization — and looking sharp and coming out healthy — could have more lasting impact on the season than a single no-hitter.
It could mean Lamet is pitching for the Padres again as soon as the middle of the week in Pittsburgh.
“What exactly that looks like,” Tingler said of what the Padres’ decision makers will discuss in the next day or so. “Is that one more start down there? Do we start to look at the Pittsburgh series? We’ve got some decisions to be made.”
Lamet, who finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting last year after posting a 2.09 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in 12 starts, has been brought along slowly
after being unable to pitch in the postseason due to elbow discomfort.
Tingler said it is possible the Padres could also fill a spot in the rotation with Weathers or a bullpen day, but “I think we’re going to base that decision on what’s right for Lamet, and we’ll work backward from there.”
Inserting Lamet could prompt more juggling of the staff.
It lines up now for both Yu Dar vish and Blake Snell to face the Dodgers next weekend at Petco Park, and it is unlikely the Padres would change that.
More injury news
Fernando Tatis Jr. upped his workout Saturday afternoon at Globe Life Field, and the signs are pointing to him being able to come off the injured list Friday for the first game of the Dodgers series.
“We want to take it day by day, but we feel confident if we can continue down this road, we’re going to be in a good position for him to be activated,” Tingler said.
• Austin Adams (elbow) was activated from the injured list before Saturday’s game, with fellow right-handed reliever Nabil Crismatt
optioned to the alternate site.