Say this much for San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.: He sure knows how to return to a lineup.
After missing all three games of a series with Milwaukee because of an undisclosed illness, Tatis was back in the lineup for Friday night’s series opener with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He made an immediate impact, belting a fourth-inning grand slam in a 7-4 victory.
Tatis and San Diego will try to win the series on Saturday night. Most importantly, the Padres hope to get good news earlier in the day from Chicago.
There, the Cubs attempt to clinch homefield advantage for their wild-card series with the Padres by beating the St. Louis Cardinals. San Diego (88-72) is two games behind Chicago with two games left. It must sweep and hope the Cubs lose twice in order to stay at home for the series.
Regardless of where the series is contested, Tatis is capable of being the difference-maker. Despite a long stretch where his home run stroke disappeared, he’s still batting .266 with 24 homers and 70 RBI. He has also set career highs in walks (88) and steals (32) while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense again.
“It feels good to be back with the boys,” he said.
Added manager Mike Shildt: “I think we feel pretty good that he’s a dangerous guy.”
Michael King (5-3, 3.57 ERA) takes the ball for the Padres in his playoff tune-up. King fired five shutout innings Sunday in a 3-2 win at the Chicago White Sox, allowing four hits and four walks while fanning four. He has a 2-0 record in two career starts against Arizona, not allowing a run over 11 innings.
The Diamondbacks will counter with left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (9-8, 4.91), who’s coming off a 9-2 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday. Rodriguez tossed six scoreless innings, permitting six hits and three walks while whiffing five. He’s 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA in three career starts against San Diego, the loss coming in July.
Arizona (80-80) was officially eliminated from playoff consideration with Friday night’s loss, a disappointing end to a season that had high expectations in March. The Diamondbacks surged to seven wins in nine games, capped by a 5-4 victory Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, to put themselves on the verge of earning the last wild-card spot.
But an 11-inning loss the next night blunted that momentum and led to the last two defeats that assured Arizona would head for the golf course on Monday instead of the playoffs.
“It was a series of games, a series of missed opportunities throughout the course of the year that have put us in this situation, and we have to accept that,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. “We’ve got to own that. We’ve got to wear it.
“We have to be able to win a game that we’re supposed to win in April. You’ve got to win games you’re supposed to win.”
Arizona’s bullpen has blown 29 saves, the second-most in MLB, and has blown leads in losses 45 times, also second in MLB. Its eight blown saves in the ninth inning are the most in MLB.
–Field Level Media
