The San Diego Padres were out of available players on the bench before the seventh inning ended in their 9-5 win Friday night against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers.
Already without starting catcher Luis Campusano (thumb), San Diego lost Fernando Tatis Jr. (elbow) after he was hit by a pitch. Jose Azocar had to enter the game as a pinch runner for Jurickson Profar after the latter appeared to hurt his leg while running out a double in the seventh inning.
Manager Mike Shildt might have to make some changes to a hot-hitting lineup for Saturday’s game, the third of a four-game weekend series.
If Campusano has to hit the injured list, the Padres might recall catcher Brett Sullivan from Triple-A El Paso to back up Kyle Higashioka. Utility man Tyler Wade was the emergency catcher.
“I don’t think we’re overly concerned about it,” Shildt said Friday of Campusano’s injury, “but we’ll see what it looks like moving forward.”
Tatis has been playing with a right quad injury for several weeks and now has another ailment. Colin Rea drilled him with a fastball in the third inning and Tatis was in pain but continued in the game until Wade hit for him in the fifth.
Profar, who limped into second on his double, sat out a game last week with a knee injury that he said has bothered him at times this year. One pitch into Jake Cronenworth’s at-bat, Shildt lifted Profar for Azocar. The status of Tatis and Profar for Saturday’s game wasn’t immediately known.
San Diego right-hander Randy Vasquez (1-4, 5.70 ERA) tries to bounce back from a miserable outing Monday night in Philadelphia, where he absorbed a 9-2 loss. Vasquez was touched for 12 hits and six runs in 4 1/3 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. He’ll face Milwaukee for the first time in his career.
Meanwhile, the Brewers hope that rookie Carlos Rodriguez (0-2, 6.48) can slow down an opponent that’s collected 16 runs on 25 hits in the series. Rodriguez last pitched Monday night, losing 5-3 at the Los Angeles Angels after yielding five runs (four earned) on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
“I thought he was good the first couple innings, then kind of lost his feel for his fastball,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said of Rodriguez. “And that really gave them opportunities. Then, there wasn’t enough swing and miss to prevent runs from scoring.”
The same could be said of Friday night’s game from the Brewers’ perspective. In addition to allowing 15 hits, five Milwaukee pitchers combined for exactly two strikeouts – one each by relievers Jared Koenig and Elvis Peguero.
Wasted was another solid offensive effort by the Brewers, who finished with 11 hits and added their 105th stolen base of the year via Tyler Black. Milwaukee, which is second in MLB in steals behind only Cincinnati (107), is on pace to record more than 220 steals.
No National League team since the 1993 Montreal Expos, who ended with 228 steals, has made it over 201.
“You’ve got to have the personnel to emphasize it and get good at it,” Murphy said of using the stolen base.
–Field Level Media