NEW YORK -- All season long, the Padres have been aggressive on the bases. It’s their organizational philosophy. It has been from Day 1.
Sometimes, the extra pressure causes havoc and creates runs. And sometimes … you get Monday night.
In a remarkable sequence, three Padres were thrown out at the plate on outfield assists during the first two innings of their series-opening 2-1 loss to the Mets. Those plays would ultimately prove decisive.
“We had three chances to score, and they got us for every single one,” said manager Craig Stammen. “Our mentality is to be aggressive on the basepaths, make the other team make a play. Tonight, they made the plays.”
Here are some takeaways from Citi Field, as the Padres (67-59) remained a game ahead of the Diamondbacks (66-60) in the race for the final Wild Card spot in the National League:
Aggressive? Or too aggressive?
It’s hard to fathom that the Padres managed only one run off Mets right-hander Nolan McLean. For one, they recorded four straight hits to end the first inning, but they came out of it scoreless.
Mets right fielder Carson Benge made two brilliant throws to nab Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado. Then, after the Padres scored their lone run of the night in the second inning, Xander Bogaerts was thrown out at the plate by Mets left fielder A.J. Ewing.
“To get somebody to execute a perfect throw from the outfield -- it’s really hard,” said Cronenworth. “They executed three in two innings, two from the same guy. Credit to them.”
After the game, the Padres were adamant that the risks were worthwhile. Philosophically, that’s in line with the way they’ve played all season -- and the way third-base coach Bob Henley has operated.
The truth is, the three plays -- and the risks involved in each -- were very different.
In the second, Bogaerts ran through a stop sign from Henley and afterward conceded, “I should have stopped.” It’s also hard to fault Henley for the final out of the first inning. There were two outs, and Benge simply made an extraordinary 103.9 mph throw to nab Machado.
The decision that’s probably worth some scrutiny was the first of the three outs at the plate. On Ty France’s one-out single, Cronenworth held up to ensure the ball wouldn’t be caught. He didn’t break immediately and was out at the plate by several feet (albeit on a 99.9 mph throw).
“That throw's on the money,” Stammen said. “If it's a little bit off, we have a run. On all three of them, if any of those throws bounce a little awkwardly … we have a run. They just made perfect plays.”
The Padres did not make Henley available for comment.
Missed chances loom large
Perhaps predictably, the Padres didn’t get any better chances than the two they had in the first two innings. McLean settled down and worked six innings of one-run ball.
“When you’re facing a guy like that and you’ve got opportunities to score early on in those innings, obviously we tried to take advantage of it,” Cronenworth said. “And obviously, yeah, they made three great throws. You wait around long enough, that guy’s going to settle in.”
Stammen even used McLean’s success as a justification for the aggressive baserunning.
“You could say there's risk in all of them,” Stammen said. “There's also a [risk] to play conservative and hope that we get a hit off one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. We love the aggressive mentality. That's just how we're going to play baseball.”
The Padres did generate some traffic the rest of the night, but never quite broke through.
Buehler delivers (again)
Walker Buehler’s numbers don’t even come close to doing him justice. He has been one of the most important arms on this Padres pitching staff. And that’s true in spite of his middling 4.79 ERA.
Buehler allowed two runs on two hits and two walks over six innings on Monday night. He struck out four. It was another extremely steady performance in a season full of them.
There’s something to be said for what Buehler has delivered -- especially on this particular pitching staff. The Padres’ rotation has been banged up all season. Prior to the Trade Deadline acquisitions of Robbie Ray and Casey Mize, they rarely seemed to know what they’d get from their starting pitcher on a nightly basis.
But Buehler has made 25 starts, and -- outside of a two-start stretch in early July in which he allowed 16 runs -- he has been a steadying force. That was the case again Monday night. Buehler allowed a couple of runs in the first inning on some weak contact, then nothing else. It marked his second straight quality start.
“Obviously two in the first, that’s never what we want,” Buehler said. “But I’m really pleased with the five after and holding us in there. We had opportunities. The three … outs at home, those are just big plays, man.”