GLOBE LIFE FIELD PLAYING LARGE
The Padres finally got to make themselves at home on Thursday night — the home team, that is.
Globe Life Field hasn’t been as homey as it was when the Padres scored 20 runs in two games in a city that’s traditionally been a hitter’s haven.
The Rangers’ old home ranked only behind Coors Field in runs (1.245) in ESPN’s MLB Park Factors in 2019 and eighth in home runs (1.130).
Scores above 1.000 favor the hitter, and the Rangers’ new digs at Globe Life Field clearly favor pitching, at least in the small sample allowed in this COVID-19shortened season.
The Rangers’ new park — which will host the NLCS and then the World Series — ranked last in home runs (.570) and 29th out of the 32 parks that hosted games in 2020 in runs (.800).
“I wouldn’t say it doesn’t carry,” Padres center fielder Trent Grisham said. “I would say, you have to hit it. You have to get it. I feel like that’s most places. There haven’t been a lot of games played here … so it’s kind of a small sample size. Most bigleague parks, you’ve got to hit the ball out to go. There are a lot of Cracker Jack ballparks, but most ballparks are all the same.”
The Padres hit five home runs in a two-game set in August in Texas, when the roof was closed. It was also closed when the Dodgers, who led the majors in home runs, hit five in a three-game set at a field that is 407 feet to center field and at its deepest 410 feet to the left and right of straightaway center.
The roof was open during this series; it was thought that would invite more displays of power, but neither team homered Tuesday or Thursday.
The Padres had two homers to the Dodgers’ one in Game 2, but had a potential go-ahead blast off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr. pulled back as center fielder Cody Bellinger leapt over the wall in the seventh inning, a drive that was projected by StatCast to land some 413 feet from the plate.
Through two NLDS games at Globe Life Field, the Dodgers and the Padres — two of the top-three scoring teams in baseball in 2020 — averaged 8.5 runs per game, down from the 11.8 runs per game during the six games played with the roof open in 2020.
“I think the ball carries more when the roof ’s open,” Bellinger said. “We were here in August when it was closed. It’s just a big park in general. I’m out in center field. There’s a lot of (artificial) grass, a lot of turf to cover. Just a big, big, big field in general.”
Nola takes a seat
Viewed as a significant offensive upgrade over catcher Austin Hedges, Austin Nola collected nine hits in his first 36 plate appearances (.290/.389/.581) with the Padres.
But Nola closed the season in a .156/.263/.188 rut over his final 10 games and was 1for-14 with four walks and six strikeouts through his first five playoff games. He did drive in the lone run Tuesday but Thursday was relegated to the bench in favor of backup Jason Castro.
“It’s no secret Nola has been just battling,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “We’ve rode him hard. … He certainly wanted to go. I just thought tonight let’s get him off his knees. …We wouldn’t be able to do that if we didn’t have a ton of confidence in Jason Castro.”
Castro hit .188/.293/.375 with two homers and nine RBIs in 27 games split between the Angels and Padres. Thursday was his first postseason action since going 0-for-3 in a wild-card game with the Twins in 2017.
Other changes
Another lineup moves was to swap Mitch Moreland in as the designated hitter in place of Jurickson Profar, who was 0-for-6 to start the NLDS, and bouncing Tommy Pham out to left field.
Pham’s two singles Wednesday gave him his third multihit game of the postseason and made him 8for-20 in five playoff games with the Padres. Since his first posteason in 2015, Pham entered Thursday’s game 18-for-50 with the Cardinals, Rays and Padres. That .360 batting average is the highest in the majors in that span among players with more than 30 postseason at-bats.
Moreland was 3-for-6 this postseason after his pinchhit RBI double off Kenley Jansen on Wednesday.
In 51 career postseason games with the Rangers, Red Sox and now the Padres, Moreland carried a .261/.331/.425 batting line, four homers and 19 RBIs into Thursday.
Staff writer Kevin Acee contributed to this report from Arlington, Texas.