KIM TO MISS AT LEAST ONE CONTEST
The Padres will be without another of their starting infielders for at least a day or two.
However long it turns out he is sidelined, Ha-Seong Kim thought it was going to be longer.
“When I first got hit I was thinking the worst thing happened,” Kim recalled of the foul ball off his knee in the second inning of Thursday’s 8-6 victory over the Nationals. “But fortunately I got a good result, a better result than I expected. I hear no structural damage. Just a contusion.”
Kim went down immediately and after a few attempts to get up, stayed on the ground writhing in pain. As he was attended to by Ben Fraser and Ricky Huerta, team trainers, he occasionally appeared to try to stop them from touching his left knee.
“I couldn’t put any pressure on it,” Kim said. “I couldn’t feel my leg, so I was a little scared. It was a scary moment for me.”
He was eventually helped off the field and was limping after the game.
Manager Bob Melvin expects to have to fill a lineup without Kim and third baseman Manny Machado for today’s opener of a series at Yankee Stadium.
The Padres are scheduled to face right-handed
starters all three games series, which means left-handed hitter Rougned Odor was likely going to start through the weekend anyway.
Odor, who had five RBIs Thursday, replaced Machado when he was hit on the hand by a pitch May 15 and has started every game against righties since.
Kim has been playing second base in Machado’s absence. When Kim went down Thursday, Brandon Dixon pinch-hit for him and remained in the game at first base. Odor moved from second to third, and Jake Cronenworth
moved from first to second.
Machado is eligible to come off the injured list today, but he has not hit live pitching yet as he prepares to return.
“Each and every day, we’ll see how it goes,” Melvin said. “But I would not expect him in the lineup (today).”
Melvin said he does not believe Machado returning to play too soon would make the fracture in his third metacarpal worse, but it could hamper healing. The fracture will not be entirely healed when Machado returns, so his being able to
play is a matter of pain tolerance, which Machado has shown to be high in the past — to the extent the Padres may want to protect him from himself.
“I think it’s more do we want him to have to grind through at-bats for a while,” Melvin said. “And I think if you do that too early, it could remain in there longer than maybe you want.”
Dixon steps in, steps up
Dixon was sitting on the bench when Kim went down to the ground.
Dixon immediately got up and grabbed a bat. As it became apparent Kim was not going to remain in the game, Dixon grabbed his helmet and glove and shin guard and moved to near the on-deck circle, where he took a couple swings.
A pinch-hitter has to live by the Boy Scout motto of “Be prepared.”
Dixon was. He inherited a 1-1 count, took a ball and then flared a single to left field.
“I watched the scouting report, I know everything about (the pitcher),” Dixon said. “It’s just, ‘Go get your at-bat.’ Always be prepared. When I don’t see my name in the lineup, it’s not like this is a day off. Whenever they need me, I’ll be ready.”
Dixon, who hit his first home run of the season Tuesday, also doubled in the eighth inning Thursday.
Carlton records ‘W’
Reliever Steven Wilson did not pitch Thursday because he has been dealing with back spasms. Melvin said he expects the righthander to be ready today.
With Wilson unavailable, it was rookie Drew Carlton who pitched the eighth inning with the Padres trailing by a run. He retired the Nationals’ 2-3-4 hitters and ended up earning his first major league victory. It was Carlton’s second appearance for the Padres and his first in nine days.