Padres’ Bullpen Falters in Cal Quantrill’s First Home Start, Lose to Mets 7-6
Credit: AP Photo
Petco Park- San Diego, California
Young Canadian’ right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill made his home debut on Tuesday in San Diego pitching for the Padres.
The New York Mets were his opponent, and the young right-hander was eager to pitch in front of the home crowd. Chris Paddack had embarrassed New York the night before, and they were fired up for the matchup with Noah Syndergaard on the mound for the Metropolitans.
Cal Quantrill’s night started rough as four straight hits gave the Mets their first lead in the series 2-0. Four batters into the game, the Padres faced early adversity on the night. With Thor on the mound for New York, the team did not want to fall too far behind in the game. Quantrill would settle down to get out of the inning, but the damage was done.
The Padres would scrap together a rally of their own in the bottom half of the inning, as a botched double play attempt in which the ball got away from the first baseman produced a run for the home team. Franmil Reyes who singled with one out in the inning came around to score on the bouncing ball off the bat of Eric Hosmer. The score was now 2-1 Mets.
It took Cal Quantrill 64 pitches to get through three complete innings on Tuesday. The rookie battled throughout the beginning of his start as he showed some butterflies on the mound for the Padres. Though his night started rough, he was able to settle in and pitch well. “Starting pitchers are paid to pitch late in games and I didn’t do that today,” Quantrill said after the game with a sense of disappointment.
The Padres tied the game on a homer to right field off the bat of Franmil Reyes. He turned around a 98.1 mph fastball from Noah Syndergaard to tie the game in the bottom of the third.
FRANMIL DROPS THE HAMMER!@La_Mole_13‘s 10th HR of the year ties up the game!@Padres |#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/mCbwTEohYE
— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD) May 8, 2019
Reyes has been impressive for the Padres since moving to the second spot in the order. Andy Green called him a “professional hitter” after the game.
The Padres received a two-run homer from Ty France to take the lead in the fourth. It was France’s first major league homer, and it came on a hanging curve from Syndergaard on a 0-2 count. The Padres were up 4-2 now, and Quantrill had a chance to earn the win for the Padres. The right-handed pitcher from Canada started the fifth inning but was unable to finish. He threw 86 pitches in his home debut and left with one out and a runner on second. He went 4 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on seven hits while striking out five in the game and walking two.
Brad Wieck relieved him and was able to close the door on the inning. Wieck was made his first appearance against the team that drafted him and struck out all four batters he faced on the night. An impressive performance from the 6-foot-9 lefty.
The Mets played sloppy ball all game and Syndergaard was on the ropes most of the night. But somehow, New York rallied against the Padres’ bullpen to tie the game in the seventh at five apiece. Phil Maton, Robbie Erlin and Craig Stammen could not hold the lead for the Friars. Maton gave up two earned runs, and Craig Stammen gave up the other.
It would take some late innings magic to seal the victory on Tuesday. The heroics would not come from the Padres, however, as Peter Alonso took Adam Warren deep in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 7-5 lead. A bat flip which almost hit catcher Francisco Mejia was a topic of discussion after the game. “I have no problems with bat flips,” Green said after the game. Alonso had a lot of pent up frustration from yesterday’s battle with Chris Paddack, and it was natural he showed that on Tuesday.
Closer Edwin Diaz came in for New York and struck out Francisco Mejia to begin the ninth. He then walked Greg Garcia, which brought Ian Kinsler to the plate. Kinsler blooped a single over first which brought Franmil Reyes to the plate. The big outfielder singled on the first pitch to bring the Padres within one run. After a wild pitch, Manny Machado was intentionally walked to load the bases. Eric Hosmer was up with one out and a chance at a walk-off victory. The first baseman battled but took a 3-2 fastball on the inside corner for strike three. Hunter Renfroe was now up with the game on the line and grounded out sharply to shortstop to end the contest. A tough 7-6 loss for the Padres, but they did fight till the very end. They will look to take the series on Wednesday in a day game. Matt Strahm is on the mound for the Padres.
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Quantrill does not seem to be comfortable. Maybe he is a late bloomer. He and Mejia should be sent back down to AAA. If these blown leads continue for much longer Green may lose this team. Perhaps if Preller would make a trade for Stroman or sign Keuckel then Green could use either Luchessi or Lauer for middle relief and let Wisler and or Erlin go. They aren’t fooling anyone. If they do send Quantrill back down, then maybe Allen deserves a chance. Myers is on the verge of losing any value in this league if his offensive numbers continue to drop. Kinsler and Hosmer do not appear to be gold glovers any more. If we can somehow remain competitive until Lamet and Castillo, Janakowski return, that should be an over-all boost all the way around.
Another multi-run lead, another blown lead. Sad. Where would the Padres be if they had decent middle relief, or a competent manager? Are they desperate enough, and is it worth trading someone like Renfroe to a team like the Giants for one or two relievers? Or will they continue to hand leads over to below average relievers?
WHY RENFROE. If any of our OF’ers should be moved it is Myers.
I’d LOVE it if they could move Myers, but, in reality, who would take him? Renfroe’s value may never be higher.
A continuing Andy Green problem reared up again, his failure to establish long relievers. With such a young staff, most of whom will be on innings limits, it is critical to have 2 long relievers available. The ideal candidates for this are most likely Warren and Erlin as both are ex-starters.
This failure has led to an overworked bullpen, after only 37 games. Stammen and Yates have both appeared in 18 games. That is just not sustainable. Relievers wear down and get injured when overworked.
A manager who can’t figure out how to use a bullpen is not really doing his job.
They have been very inconsistent, you can’t just flip a switch and decide they will get the job done say 75% of the time. I think we need to make some hard decisions and decide that a couple of minor league starters need to be moved to the pen at the ML level. I am not very fond of Warren or Wisler for that mater. I like Maton but he struggles every other outing. Maybe time to try Stout again while Wingenter is out.
Worst pitched game I have seen all year. We need better middle relief period. Guys are having trouble going two innings or back to back days. Over the last two seasons, this overall would be considered GOOD. But this is not a championship bullpen. Weird splits, like our best LH can’t get LH hitters out. Our Long man struggles every other time out.
Then there is Quantrill, he was real bad tonight. IMO, should head back to AAA.