CINCINNATI -- For two months, Adrian Morejon has been lights out in his setup role for the Padres. He endured a rare rough outing on Tuesday night in Cincinnati -- and it proved costly.
The Reds scored two runs against Morejon in the eighth -- as many as he’d allowed in the entirety of August. The Padres fell, 4-3, despite a pair of homers from Fernando Tatis Jr. Here’s some instant reaction from Great American Ball Park:
Tatis shows his oppo power
All that talk about Tatis’ lack of power early this year, and he’s now one long ball away from another 20-homer season.
Tatis’ 18th and 19th home runs on Tuesday night were both impressive opposite-field drives. There aren’t many hitters in the sport capable of going the other way with as much authority as Tatis.
“Great swings,” said Padres manager Craig Stammen. “When he’s using the entire field, there’s not too many people better than him at the plate.”
Tatis’ first home run was an absolute laser, 105.3 mph off the bat, and it barely cleared the wall in right field. His second homer was his usual majestic oppo blast, but it served only as consolation, cutting the Padres deficit to one in the ninth.
“Obviously not enough to win a ballgame,” Tatis said. “Which is the most important thing right now.”
Fortunately, the Padres caught a break on Tuesday night when the Diamondbacks lost 7-1 to the Phillies, which moved them a half-game above Arizona for the final National League Wild Card spot.
Rodriguez, Matsui earning high-leverage spots
The Padres aren’t worried about Morejon. Given his track record, they shouldn’t be. Nights like this one happen.
“He’s had a heavy workload, it’s a hot night,” Stammen said. “One of those outings where he just doesn’t look quite himself. That’s the way it goes.”
There were encouraging signs from the Padres’ bullpen nonetheless -- namely from Bradgley Rodriguez and Yuki Matsui.
The Padres remain hopeful they’ll get both Jeremiah Estrada (right shoulder impingement) and Jason Adam (right shoulder strain) back from the injured list at some point in September. In the meantime, Rodriguez and Matsui have worked their way into the roles the Padres envisioned for Adam and Estrada.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Rodriguez relieved Randy Vásquez and escaped trouble before working a scoreless sixth. Matsui followed with a clean seventh. They’ve become an ideal bridge to Morejon and Mason Miller at the back end of the bullpen.
The emergence of Rodriguez and Matsui has given the Padres some leeway in the event that Adam and/or Estrada isn’t ready to return. And if they do return? San Diego’s bullpen will be an embarrassment of riches -- a tough group to beat if they reach the postseason.
Taylor’s return might be a big one
Naturally, the transaction getting all the attention is the promotion of top prospect Ethan Salas (who arrived shortly after first pitch and didn’t appear in Tuesday’s game). But in the context of the Padres’ playoff push, the return of Samad Taylor is by far the most notable roster move of the past few days.
Luis Rengifo is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. Taylor is a like-for-like replacement in so many ways. He brings the same energy, versatility and even more speed. And, oh yeah, he can hit.
Sure enough, Taylor took over the No. 2 spot that Rengifo filled against left-handed pitching. In his first start since returning from an oblique strain, Taylor tripled and scored in the first inning. He also singled and was hit by a pitch.
“He picked up right where he left off the last time we’d seen him,” Stammen said. “And that’s what we’re going to need from him down the stretch.”
Taylor isn’t a switch-hitter like Rengifo. There remain concerns about the Padres’ lineup against right-handed pitching (which was part of the reason for Salas' callup). But Taylor’s presence goes a long way toward helping replace what the Padres lost in Rengifo.
Again with the bunts …
A recurring theme, as the Padres have dropped six of their last eight games, is their failure to lay down bunts.
It began last week with a couple of failed attempts in extra innings against the Pirates. It reared its ugly head in the weekend sweep against the Rays. And in each of their first two games in Cincinnati this week, the Padres have failed to execute a bunt attempt.
It cost them on Tuesday night. The Padres put two men aboard with nobody out in the seventh, and Jase Bowen could not get them over -- fouling off two attempts, before striking out swinging.