Tatis injured, Padres lose 4-3 to Cubs
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Wrigley Field- Chicago, Illinois-
The biggest story of this game for the San Diego Padres was the early exit by Fernando Tatis Jr. According to the Padres’ official Twitter account: “Update from the clubhouse: Fernando Tatis Jr. was removed from tonight’s game for precautionary reasons with right oblique tightness.”
Injuries have been the only thing in the MLB that can slow him down, and even then, he tends to come back better than ever. This season he was off to a slow start and eventually placed on the 10-day IL with a shoulder injury. He used that time to learn a two-handed swing, and he started to slide feet first in more cases. He exploded back into the spotlight when he led the Padres to a winning series against the Dodgers.
“More precautionary than anything. The trainer took a look at him. Strength is pretty good postgame, range of motion pretty good. We will go day to day. Hopefully, it’s just a little bit of tightness in the midsection. We will go from there. We will probably know a little bit more tomorrow,” Jayce Tingler said about the injury.
Then in May, he tested positive for COVID-19. After following the proper protocols, he once again came back and immediately making an impact. In that return, he hit four home runs in his first four games back. This most recent injury will be a wait-and-see situation.
His absence will leave fans worried. The Padres just dropped their third straight game, and that was with a healthy Tatis. This time around, it was Ryan Weathers that struggled for the first time in his young and blooming career. Tonight he gave up seven hits, and four earned runs while walking one and striking out two. All four runs came from a two-run home run by Patrick Wisdom and another by Wilson Contreras.
In the entire month of May, he only gave up four earned runs in 18 innings pitched. Weathers has been lights out this season. This game shows that he isn’t bulletproof. There are some positives to this outing for him. He had five complete innings of work for just the second time ever. For most pitchers, this would be a borderline insult to highlight. For Weathers, one of the youngest pitchers in the league, this is a side effect of growing up in the MLB. He was drafted out of high school in 2018, had a full minor league season in 2019. Then he had to endure the COVID season of 2020, in which he made his MLB debut in the playoffs.
“Overall, he was pretty good. I’m sure he would like to have two pitches back or so. Both of them came on two-strike counts…Overall, I thought he did a great job. He gave us a chance to win,” Tingler said about his starting pitcher.
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The Padres bats had a two-out rally in the 5th inning, and that was the only time they got runs on the board. Former Cub, Victor Carantini, hit a home run to make it a one-run game. Then Ryan Weathers recorded his second hit of the game. That set up Tommy Pham for a two-run homer to give the Padres a 3-2 lead. That lead would be short-lived when Contreras hit his home run in the bottom of the 5th.
The Padres will close out their road trip with a final game against the Cubs. They will be looking to bounce back from a three-game losing streak and the loss of Tatis.
Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.