Clevinger suddenly pulled after 1 inning, Padres fall to Angels 5-2
SAN DIEGO — The euphoria of clinching their first playoff berth in 14 seasons three days earlier was tempered for the San Diego Padres when right-hander Mike Clevinger was suddenly pulled after only one inning of his start Wednesday.
Clevinger was sent for an MRI on his right biceps while the Padres were losing 5-2 to the Los Angeles Angels. If the Padres get bad news, it will be a big setback at the front end of their playoff rotation.
Even some of his teammates were confused after Clevinger didn’t come out for the second inning.
“It would be a big blow if we lost Clev,” first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “I think a lot of us position players were kind of asking the same thing, whether or not he had been scheduled to throw that amount or what was going on. We’re hoping for the best news.”
Clevinger was obtained in a blockbuster trade with Cleveland on Aug. 31 and had been the presumed Game 1 starter in the wild-card round starting next Wednesday. If Clevinger can’t go, that role could go to Dinelson Lamet.
Clevinger breezed through a perfect first inning on 12 pitches Wednesday, including striking out Mike Trout and David Fletcher.
But rookie Adrian Morejon began warming up in the bullpen while the Padres batted in the bottom of the inning and came out to start the second. Morejon (2-2) allowed a tying, two-run homer to Shohei Ohtani and solo shots to Justin Upton and Anthony Bemboom that gave the Angels a 4-2 lead.
Clevinger’s start had been pushed back from Saturday night because of tightness in his right biceps. Manager Jayce Tingler said on Tuesday that Clevinger threw a bullpen session on Monday and seemed good to go for Wednesday afternoon’s start.
Clevinger said his biceps tightened up after he threw a curveball to Jared Walsh, the second batter, Tingler said.
If the Padres don’t have Clevinger for the playoffs, “We’re comfortable with our options, yeah, but like I said, we’re not going to flip out and freak out,” Tingler said. “We’re going to get some information, whether it’s later this evening, and kind of go from there.”
The Padres are off today before playing four games in three days at San Francisco to end the regular season. Their magic number remains at two for clinching homefield advantage as the NL’s No. 4 seed in the wild-card round next week.