Dinelson Lamet returns, but Padres lose to Pirates
Credit: AP Photo
Petco Park- San Diego, Ca
The San Diego Padres activated Dinelson Lamet to start Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after his time on the shelf.
A much-needed sigh of relief swept over the Padres’ faithful with the news of Lamet. If healthy, it’s a huge positive for San Diego.
Lamet went two innings and gave up four hits with no runs and no walks. He was pulled early, although Jayce Tingler said that was the plan.
“We were planning on two innings for Lamet,” Jayce Tingler said after the game. “He came out feeling strong, feeling well, and we anticipate he’ll make his next start if everything goes well.”
His velocity was down, but that wasn’t a concern for Tingler.
“That could just be a little bit rusty from not pitching. The main thing is he felt good and strong coming out, so that’s ultimately a positive.”
For the Padres, this is a huge plus despite the loss. The health of Lamet- especially after the injuries to Adrian Morejon and Chris Paddack– is of utmost importance if they want to find a way to stay on course for a playoff spot. The silver lining is that Lamet came away from the game feeling fine and should be in line for his next start.
Ryan Weathers followed Lamet and tossed three innings with four hits and a run, with the lone run coming off of a Bryan Reynolds double that drove in Adam Frazier.
For Weathers, more encouraging news from the Padres’ perspective as he was battling an injury and was day-to-day heading into Tuesday.
“I thought he was getting a little bit stronger, and he had a fast arm tonight. His slider wasn’t quite as sharp, but the fastball played well. Today was a big day for both those guys.”
After that, the bullpen came in and did their usual job of throwing strong innings.
Keone Kela, Pierce Johnson, Emilio Pagan, and Drew Pomeranz finished out the game with four innings, and two hits with a run as the bullpen continued to exert their dominance for San Diego. In fact, the Padres own the top ERA in baseball (2.81) and the top batting average against (.200).
Unfortunately for the Padres, the bats once again went cold. Fernando Tatis Jr. got a rest day, and Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer went a combined 0-7. The offense mustered just four hits all evening as Mitch Keller threw 5.2 shutout innings with a pair of hits. Austin Nola got the Padres on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the 7th, but that was all they could get against the Pirates.
Austin Nola cashes in the @Padres first run of the ball game and the deficit is cut in half! #HungryForMore pic.twitter.com/8hEFdrGBLu
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) May 5, 2021
It was the same story for the Padres. The pitching was fantastic, and the offense fell flat. Over their past four games, the offense has scored just 10 runs, with six of those coming Saturday night against the Giants.
“As a group, we’re not swinging it the way we’re capable of. We’re having a hard time stringing two or three quality at-bats back together. We gotta find a way.”
It’s been frustrating and confusing. The Padres are 21st in runs scored and 22nd in home runs and are 27th in slugging percentage, a huge surprise after the hype surrounding the team in the offseason.
Even more frustrating is the lack of offense at Petco Park. The Padres are batting just .211/.299/.312 at home this season compared to their .251/.332/.407 slash lines on the road.
[wpedon id=”49075″ align=”right”]
“It’s tough getting runs right now when we’re not able to string quality at-bats together. We got a chance to win a series tomorrow and have to come out ready to go.”
As Tingler said, the Padres can walk away with a series victory if they can find a way to score some runs. Yu Darvish will take the hill for San Diego, and JT Brubaker will toss for the Pirates in the rubber match of the three-game set with the first pitch at 5:10 PST.
Matthew Wadleigh, born in Oceanside and currently lives in Fresno. He lives with his wife and 2 dogs and is a sports enthusiast. Retired drummer and member of the Fresno State Marching Band. He has been a Padres fan since childhood and has suffered during the struggles just like everybody else.
The offense did not fall flat, it’s just horrible.
The Mets are more decisive, they fired their hitting coaches. The Padres need to fire their manager….. and perhaps hitting coaches as well.