Mitchell handles D-backs in return from DL

PHOENIX -- Bryan Mitchell returned to the Padres' rotation on Monday with newfound opportunity sitting squarely in front of him.
Forget the early-season struggles, in which Mitchell saw his ERA soar above 7 after the right-hander was a pivotal piece in a December trade with the Yankees. Here was Mitchell, given another chance to earn his place in the San Diego rotation after missing three months with a right elbow impingement.
It will take more than one impressive outing for Mitchell to win a long-term place. But on Monday night, at least, he earned further opportunity. Mitchell pitched five innings of one-run ball in the Padres' 6-2 victory over the D-backs at Chase Field.
"I'm just trying to take things one start at a time," said Mitchell. "I know nothing's guaranteed at this point. But it's definitely a good stepping stone moving forward. Tonight felt really good after the way the season's gone for me. I needed that one."

Franmil Reyes provided the early offense, powering up for his first career multi-homer game with a three-run shot in the second and a solo blast in the fourth. Reyes' first homer of the night came after D-backs starter Zack Godley had walked Eric Hosmer and William Myers. Godley then came inside with a fastball and jammed Reyes.
"He still muscles it out to right-center," said Padres manager Andy Green, practically speaking in disbelief. "There's not a lot of guys that can do that. When you can mis-hit balls out of the ballpark, you start to get in a category with very few hitters in the big leagues."

Austin Hedges tacked on a two-run single in the eighth, and the bullpen did enough to make a winner out of Mitchell, who threw 55 of his 83 pitches for strikes and really couldn't harness his curveball (typically his best pitch).
"It wasn't as sharp as I would've liked," Mitchell said. "But I was throwing it enough to keep them off the fastball."
Mitchell threw his heater at a 70-percent clip, and the fastball-heavy diet worked to great success. Arizona hitters squared him up in the first inning, when he allowed his only run on a Steven Souza Jr. single, but rarely did so after that.
"Especially with the two-seamer tonight, it's definitely an eye-opener moving forward," Mitchell said. "Just be aggressive with that in the zone, get some plate and not try and be too fine with things."
Mitchell's rotation place remains tenuous. The Padres' six-man staff features four rookies, and the organization is still very interested in watching them over the season's final four weeks.
In that regard, the schedule doesn't fall kindly. San Diego has five off-days remaining. Keeping a six-man rotation could mean wide gaps between outings for starting pitchers.
"If they have six or seven days off in between, it's not going to hurt them at this point in the season," said Green. "I don't think we have a huge plan to alter this rotation. [Mitchell] did a solid job today, and we want him to continue to build off it."

YATES RETURNS WITH SCORELESS NINTH
The Padres reinstated closer Kirby Yates from the bereavement list prior to Monday's game. There was no save situation Monday night, but Yates worked a scoreless ninth anyway, punching out Ketel Marte and Jonathan Jay on his trademark splitter to end the game.
Yates was one of two roster moves the Padres made on Monday. They also activated righty Luis Perdomo (right-shoulder strain) from the disabled list, bringing their active roster to 28 players. Perdomo is expected to pitch out of the bullpen.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Rookie left-hander Jose Castillo has been excellent since his June callup, and he was particularly effective on Monday night. Castillo worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, lowering his ERA to 2.76 in 29 1/3 innings this season. His outing was highlighted by a filthy back-foot slider to strike out pinch-hitter Christian Walker in the seventh. The pitched trailed so far inside that Walker swung over it and fell to his right knee in doing so.

RENFROE KEEPS RAKING
Hunter Renfroe's red-hot August has spilled into September. The Padres left fielder struck out in his first three at-bats Monday, but he lined a 112-mph rocket to left field in the eighth inning, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games. Since the beginning of August, Renfroe is hitting .305 with 11 home runs.
HE SAID IT
"It was tough to sit for three months. But luckily over the last month I was pitching every five days [on a rehab assignment]. I got six starts in, so I ironed out a couple little things and got into a decent rhythm." -- Mitchell
UP NEXT
Left-hander Joey Lucchesi takes the ball Tuesday for the second of the Padres' two games in Arizona this week. He's looking to build on an excellent showing against Seattle in which he allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings and 108 pitches -- both career highs. Left-hander Robbie Ray takes the ball for the D-backs with first pitch slated for 6:40 p.m. PT.