SAN DIEGO -- For the second time in three days, the Padres got an underwhelming performance from a newly acquired starting pitcher.
Robbie Ray took the loss on Friday night, as San Diego dropped the opener of its weekend series against the Astros, 6-3. Here’s some reaction from Petco Park:
Five laborious innings for Ray
It’s fair to expect a whole lot more from the Padres’ newest starters in their next turn through the rotation. Ray did not turn in the dud that Casey Mize did on Wednesday in Arizona. But he wasn’t anywhere near his best on Friday night.
Ray walked five Astros and allowed seven hits. He only struck out two. In an odd way, the four runs he allowed were a testament to Ray’s guile. Because he probably could have allowed more.
“His command was definitely off,” said manager Craig Stammen. “He got behind in a lot of counts. … He grinded that outing out, gave us five -- which is big. Showed how competitive he is.”
In defense of Mize and Ray, it’s been an awkward couple of weeks. Both had their schedules thrown completely off. Mize went 11 days without pitching. Ray hadn’t started since he faced the Padres on July 30 at Petco Park while he was still with the Giants. He was a lot sharper that night.
Both looked like they were shaking off some rust. Ray allowed a second-inning homer to Cam Smith -- and that was the only inning in which he wasn’t dealing with major traffic on the basepaths.
“I just put myself into bad situations,” Ray said. “The walks -- I think that was the biggest thing. I was just getting a little quick tonight. … Overall I’ve got to limit the walks.”
Ray acknowledged that getting back on a normal routine would help. Mize indicated the same. There’s obviously still plenty of time for them to prove their value to the Padres.
"You're looking at: Will we be better with those guys over a period of time?” Stammen said. “Not just one single first start. I know the reaction is this is their first start, and they didn't pitch their best.
“We're thankful that they're on our team. And we're looking forward to the next eight, nine, 10 starts -- and the playoff starts that they get."
Tatis climbs the HR leaderboard
Fernando Tatis Jr. seemed none too pleased with Astros starter Ronel Blanco in the top of the fifth. Blanco appeared to be quick-pitching Tatis, who tried to step out of the box, but wasn’t granted time. A pitch later, Tatis felt Blanco had begun his windup before he was ready.
Nonetheless, the count ran to 3-1 -- and Tatis took all those frustrations out on Blanco’s ensuing slider.
He launched a missile to the second deck of the Western Metal building in left field. After a season-opening drought that lasted more than two months, Tatis is now into double figures, with his 10th home run of the season.
He’s also alone in third place on the Padres’ all-time home run leaderboard with 162, surpassing Adrián González. He’s one shy of Nate Colbert for second all-time (with Manny Machado sitting in first with 217).
“It’s awesome,” Tatis said of his place on the Padres’ home-run list. “But at the end of the day, we’re here to win ballgames. I feel like that just will take care of itself.”
Missed opportunities
The Padres certainly had their chances. They put runners on base in every inning from the first through the seventh. But they hit into inning-ending double plays in the second and fourth, and Sung-Mun Song was caught stealing third base for the first out of the third inning.
Trailing by two in the seventh, the Padres loaded the bases for Luis Rengifo. With the tying and go-ahead runs on base, the ballpark reached a crescendo. But Rengifo bounced harmlessly to second against Astros setup man Bryan Abreu.
The Padres wouldn’t seriously threaten after that.
“Had our chances,” Stammen said. “Just weren’t able to come through.”
Of all the missed opportunities, the one that stung the most -- or at least was most preventable -- was Song’s caught stealing. The Padres had nobody out and the top of their order due up.
Afterward, Stammen called it what it was: “A baserunning mistake.” He also took the blame for it.
“I should’ve had a red light, down 3-0, leadoff guy on second with the top of the order up,” Stammen said. “Just didn’t give him the red light. Trust our baserunners a little bit. Maybe a little bit too much in that situation. We’ve got to correct that.”