SAN DIEGO -- When Padres manager Craig Stammen emerged from the dugout in the top of the third inning on Wednesday afternoon, he had his mind made up. He was going to his bullpen. This game -- in the context of the National League Wild Card race -- was too important. Kyle Hart was the right matchup for CJ Abrams. Walker Buehler’s afternoon was done.
Then, Stammen got to the mound, where he was greeted by Buehler, animated as ever. Shouting into his glove, Buehler pleaded his case. Stammen listened and took it in. He changed his mind. Eventually, he began his walk back to the dugout. Buehler took a couple steps behind the mound.
But, uh, that wasn’t allowed.
In the heat of the moment, evidently both had forgotten a prior visit from pitching coach Ruben Niebla in that inning. A second mound visit in the inning meant that, by rule, Buehler had to be lifted from the game.
The umpiring crew signaled to the left-center-field bullpen, and Hart entered. Stammen shrugged. Buehler flipped the ball in his direction and stalked off.
Hey, all’s well that ends well.
Hart entered and escaped the bases-loaded, one-out jam, keeping the Padres within striking distance. They immediately rallied to take the lead, then poured it on late in a 9-2 victory, completing a sweep of the Nationals and a 5-1 homestand.
“When I left the dugout, I was very convicted that I was going to put him in the game,” Stammen said of Hart. “That 90 feet to the mound, there’s a lot of things going on in my head. Fortunately, it worked out really well.”
That’s the important part at this time of year. With 16 games left to play, the Padres (78-68) are a half-game up on the Diamondbacks (78-68) for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
The stakes of that race are what convinced Stammen to go to Hart in the first place.
“At this time of the year, you’re thinking more of how you would manage a playoff baseball game,” Stammen said.
Still, you can certainly understand why Buehler would be upset. Behind Michael King, Buehler has been San Diego’s steadiest starting pitcher this season. As the Padres have stormed into playoff contention, Buehler has posted a 3.26 ERA across 10 starts in the second half. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt, hasn’t he?
Presumably, Buehler was trying to make precisely that case to Stammen with the bases loaded and one out and the Padres trailing 2-0. He evidently made the case well enough to convince Stammen.
“When he turns around, I think I’m still in the game,” Buehler said. “At the end of the day, there’s a lot going on in my head besides how many mound visits we have.”
Fair enough, for the starting pitcher to be unaware. But for a first-time manager, it wasn’t a great look. To his credit, Stammen owned his blunder. (If that’s what it even was. The move worked out, after all; it just took an awkward set of circumstances to get there.)
“I’ve got to be more decisive in the moment, or in that walk to the mound,” Stammen said. “I was decisive in the dugout and less decisive as I went. When you get less decisive, the game speeds up on you and you make a decision that you probably shouldn’t.”
For all the confusion on the infield, there was none in the Padres’ bullpen. When Stammen emerged from the dugout, Hart was ready to enter.
“I knew Ruben had already gone,” Hart said. “The umpire from behind second was waving us in. There was no confusion on our end.”
Whatever circumstances led to the pitching change -- it was an entirely sensible one, even though Buehler was sitting on just 60 pitches. The Padres trailed 2-0, and Stammen wanted to make sure it didn’t become 5-0.
“With the score 2-0 already, bases loaded one out, one of their best hitters coming up, a left-handed matchup, that’s probably not advantageous to our starter,” Stammen said. “Not that he couldn’t get him out. We don’t know. Maybe he would’ve got ‘em all out.
“But that’s a better matchup with Kyle Hart facing CJ Abrams in that spot, especially with the day off the next day and enough guys in the bullpen to be able to finish the game.”
Here’s the important part: It all worked. Hart would pitch 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. The Padres rallied for three runs in the bottom of the third. They scored two more in the fourth and two more in the fifth. In no time, they led, 7-2. Four other relievers followed Hart with scoreless outings.
Afterward, there were clearly no hard feelings with the way it went down.
“At the end of the day, I didn’t pitch good enough in the third inning to stay in there anyway,” Buehler said. “Credit to the offense and the bullpen.”