Connect with us

San Diego, CA

Padres Daily: Penned in; going after Ohtani; intentional thinking

Published

on

Padres Daily: Penned in; going after Ohtani; intentional thinking


Good morning from Los Angeles,

What happened last night was about how it probably had to go for the Dodgers to beat the Padres.

The Dodgers do not have good starting pitching. They have an excellent bullpen and an even better offense.

Their starting pitcher got drilled. Their bullpen did not allow a run. Their offense scored a lot. That was the game.

Advertisement

We will get to some of the decisions made in the Padres’ 7-5 loss in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, because this is the time of year where every move can at least be questioned.

But this was not on manager Mike Shildt.

It was kind of on Dylan Cease, who got just 10 outs and allowed eight baserunners. Well, seven baserunners plus Shohei Ohtani jogging around the bases without stopping after hitting a 97 mph fastball that was not quite high enough to prevent him from hitting a three-run homer.

It was also kind of on the offense that did nothing for most of (and scored nothing for all of) the final six innings.

The Padres have scored one run in 18⅔  innings against relief pitchers this postseason.

Advertisement

“You get into playoff games, you have good bullpens you’re facing,” Shildt said. “That’s part of it. Clearly, we’re capable against any reliever. I thought we had some good at-bats, had some traffic out there. Had the go-ahead run at the plate late in the last inning. And our offense has been good all year. … We got (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto out of there early. Their bullpen came in, did the job. And we just weren’t able to get the big blow.”

Yes, the Braves and Dodgers have some excellent high-leverage relievers. But dating back to the final three weeks of the season, the Padres have endured a number of scoring droughts.

They have gone at least five innings without a run 11 times in their past 19 games. They didn’t score in the final six innings last night and went 11 batters without reaching base between Kyle Higashioka’s one-out double in the fourth and Jurickson Profar’s lead-off walk in the eighth. They were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

That all added up to a wasted opportunity when they had leads of 3-0 and 5-3 against Yamamoto, who was pulled after three innings.

It’s difficult to pin a loss on an offense that scored five runs. Up until last night, the Padres were 67-8 when scoring at least five runs.

Advertisement

The problem is, you have to do what the game demands. And the Padres are facing a team that can hit against pretty much any pitcher. So last night’s game demanded the Padres score more.

“We know they are going to come back and they’re going to score runs,” Manny Machado said.

It was Machado who put the Padres up 3-0 with a two-run homer in the first inning that made 53,028 people about as quiet as such a gathering could be.

But the Padres were going against the Dodgers, who have the best player on earth playing his best and two former MVPs hitting directly behind him and then All-Stars hitting in two of the three spots after that.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be enough,” said Machado, who struck out in the eighth and ninth innings. “We have to continue stringing up good at-bats as a team and keep competing. … We did. We didn’t execute. We didn’t get so many hits off the bullpen. They came in and made their pitches. I think we had some good at-bats, and we just couldn’t get anything rolling until the last two innings.”

Advertisement

What they got going in the eighth inning was the lead-off walk by Profar, a one-out walk by Jackson Merrill and a two-out walk by Jake Cronenworth before Donovan Solano struck out.

What they got going in the ninth was a two-out single by Fernando Tatis Jr. and a walk by Profar before Machado struck out.

“After Yamamoto went out, I feel like they brought guys that just executed pitches,” Tatis said. “They were not afraid of attacking. And yeah, they silenced our bats for most of the game.”

You can read my game story (here) for the breakdown of events, as the Dodgers accomplished their mission of “fighting” in Game 1 plus more quotes from Tatis and Machado and some from Cease.

Going after him

Sure, this is what can happen when you pitch to Ohtani:

Advertisement

There is a school of thought that says that at this point you pitch around him in pretty much every crucial situation.

That is not the school in which Shildt is enrolled.

Advertisement

And there was evidence last night to support the Padres manager’s thinking, even if the lasting image is the home Cease allowed when there was a base open.

Ohtani singled against left-hander Adrián Morejón in the fourth inning on a 98 mph fastball that shattered his bat as the ball floated into center field at 67.8 mph.

Cease got Ohtani on a fly ball to start the bottom of the first. Jason Adam struck him out on three pitches to start the sixth. And Scott finished a strikeout of Ohtani on a 97 mph fastball above the zone with a runner on second and one down in the eighth.

“He’s a good player,” Shildt said. “Clearly, he’s done some pretty special things this year. I feel good about — it’s just about execution. You’ve got to be even finer against really good players. But we have really good players, too. It’s just about the execution. … Morejón absolutely made a beautiful pitch and blew him up. And he got one into center field. I like Scott’s pitches against him, like Adam’s pitches against him. We executed. We were able to get him out. We just got something that was out over (from Cease) that he was able to get the meat of the bat on.”

Advertisement

All that said, Ohtani is 8-for-16 in his past four games against the Padres (over the past 12 days) and is batting .461 with a 1.439 OPS in 85 plate appearances since Sept. 11. In that span, he is batting .630 with a 2.100 OPS in 29 plate appearances with runners in scoring position.

Intentional reasoning

The player Shildt did notably avoid once was Mookie Betts, eschewing a 2-2 count and issuing an intentional walk to the Dodgers’ No.2 batter in the fourth inning.

The decision came after Morejón, who had entered the game to face Ohtani, yielded the broken-bat single to load the bases and then had a splitter get past Higashioka for a wild pitch that scored the lead runner and moved the other two runners up a base.

So with first base open, Shildt gave the free pass to the right-handed-hitting Betts to load the bases and bring up left-handed-hitting Freddie Freeman.

“I was surprised,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think Mookie was, too. Morejón just threw a ball in the dirt to give up a run. I don’t know if Mike was kind of leery of another wild pitch. Obviously, with two strikes, it typically doesn’t happen, and they wanted to take their chance with Freddie, which is one of those things, when you have good players, I think we’re in a good spot if it’s Mookie or Freddie. But I guess they just wanted that left-handed match-up.”

Advertisement

Yes. And there was more.

Shildt considered that Betts put the ball on the ground just 23.5% of the time against lefties this season and struck out just 8% of the time against lefties and walked 14% of the time he reached a 2-2 count against lefties.

“So now you can sit there and say, let’s tap dance around him,” Shildt said of his options. “No, let’s go to Freddie with Morejon, who throws 50 percent ground-ball rating against lefties. … So we go to Freddie to get the (grounder). And we got it.”

Freeman hit the first pitch he saw to the right side. Solano, playing first base, had to run to his right to field it and make a throw across his body to force out the runner at home for the second out.

With that, Shildt went to right-hander Jeremiah Estrada to face right-handed hitting Teoscar Hernández.

Advertisement

That did not go as planned, which does on its own did not make Shildt’s strategy wrong. Estrada simply threw a 98 mph fastball to the heart of the zone that Hernández lined to right-center field to drive in two runs and give the Dodgers their first lead of the night, at 6-5.

“We’ve got Estrada, who we like a lot,” Shildt said. “And we like a righty on Hernandez. And to his credit, put a swing and brought in two runs.”

One way or another

The throw Solano made after fielding Freeman’s soft grounder to get the out at home in the fourth inning was excellent.

The decision was at least debatable, in that it appeared he might have been able to get an inning-ending double play.

Shildt believed the right play was to take out the run.

“I think when in doubt he made the right play,” Shildt said. “It was a tough play. But I don’t know (that) it’s an easy double play ball. It’s not hit hard. It’s going away. We’ve got a pitcher who has got to come over. I thought he made a good play. He’s making a baseball play to try to cut a run down, which he did. He’s smart. He knows we’ve got a guy coming in for the next guy. Made a good baseball play to keep it right there.”

Bounceback opportunity

The Padres have the experience of having won the 2022 NLDS in four games after dropping Game 1 to the Dodgers.

“It’s a different year,” Machado said.

Just three pitchers and three position players on the Padres’ roster for this series were on the ’22 Division Series roster.

Advertisement

So, the Padres chose to draw, instead, on what they have done this season.

Among their more resilient traits was that they lost consecutive games just four times in their final 65 games. (One of those times was last week against the Dodgers.)

Said Jake Cronenworth: “This team has done it all year — the ability to bounce back the next day after a tough loss and forget about what happened the day before.”

Xander Bogaerts, who has two World Series rings and last night played in his 48th postseason game, most on the Padres, talked about this last week.

“I feel like the bounce back ability is the best thing we might have,” he said. “You have some tough losses, it’s easy to come in the next day and be like, ‘(Expletive). I still remember that. That sucked.’ But the ability we have to turn the page real quick and come in the next day knowing we gotta go at it again and go about it the right way … you gotta have that, because when it comes to the playoffs, you’re not going to win every game.”

Advertisement

The Padres face Jack Flaherty tonight.

The Dodgers moved Flaherty back a day, in part to facilitate his work cleaning up some mechanical issues in the bullpen.

Flaherty allowed the Padres three runs in five innings on Sept. 25 and has allowed at least three runs in three straight starts.

Yu Darvish, who has a 3.55 ERA in five starts (25⅓ innings) since returning from an absence of more than three months while dealing with elbow soreness and a personal matter, starts for the Padres. (He was the winner in Game 2 two years ago, allowing three runs in five innings in the 5-3 victory.)

With an off day tomorrow, it would seem every reliever on both teams will be available today except perhaps Blake Treinen. He threw 39 pitches in 1⅔ innings to close out last night’s game. It was the most outs Treinen recorded in a game since 2021 and tied for his most pitches in a game since 2019.

Advertisement

You can read in Jeff Sanders’ notebook from yesterday (here) about Darvish’s relationship with Ohtani and the Padres’ pitching plans for later in the series. (Also — and I don’t know where he gets off — but Sanders had a couple tidbits in that notebook about Machado’s standing on the franchise’s all-time postseason list and a hard hit by Tatis.)

Kim changes rep

Even facing surgery to repair a tear in the labrum of his right shoulder and after a down offensive season, Ha-Seong Kim figures to be coveted for his defense in the middle of the infield and is expected to command more than the $8 million he would be due if he stayed with the Padres.

So there was not much question as to whether Kim would decline the option on his contract after this season.

And he sent a clear signal as to what direction he will choose by recently hiring the Boras Corporation to represent him. One does not hire Scott Boras at a time like this with the intention of remaining in an existing contract.

The 28-year-old Kim, who hit .233/.330/.370 in 120 games this season, has made $28 million in his four seasons since joining the Padres. The mutual option on his contract would pay him $8 million next season if both sides decided to exercise their option. The Padres will owe Kim $2 million if he opts out.

Advertisement

Tidbits

  • Tatis was 2-for-4 with a walk last night and is 6-for-10 with three walks in three postseason games. One thing almost always coincides with Tatis going on a tear offensively: excellent plate discipline. Tatis has chased just four of the 29 pitches (13.7%) he has seen outside the strike zone the past three games. That is less than half his chase rate in the regular season.
  • After going 0-for-7 in the wild-card series, Bogaerts was 2-for-4 with a two-run double last night.
  • Higashioka caught Dylan Cease last night for the first time since July 2. While the Padres have pretty strictly matched up their pitchers with the same catchers, the fact Higashioka entered yesterday having homered in three of his previous six at-bats won out. Said Shildt:  “I’m no genius, but we’ll stick with that guy.” Higashioka was 1-for-2 with a double last night.
  • Profar walked twice last night, drove in a run with a groundout and finished 0-for-3. He is 1-for-10 this postseason.
  • The Padres’ 6 through 9 batters are 6-for-38 (.158) in the postseason. Three of the hits are by Higashioka and two are by Bogaerts. Donovan Solano, who has started all three games, including the two against right-handers, is 1-for-11. Jake Cronenworth is 0-for-9 with a walk, and he has been hit by a pitch.
  • Jackson Merrill worked a seven-pitch walk and a 10-pitch walk last night. He was 0-for-2 and scored a run and is 3-for-9 in the three postseason games.
  • If you missed the coverage from Friday, I wrote Friday (here) about Joe Musgrove needing Tommy John surgery. And Bryce Miller wrote a column (here) after talking with Sheel Seidler.

All right, that’s it for me.

Talk to you tomorrow.





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

San Diego, CA

After surviving a brutal crash, this San Diego police officer is feeling gratitude and forgiveness

Published

on

After surviving a brutal crash, this San Diego police officer is feeling gratitude and forgiveness


When Zachary Martinez awoke in Sharp Memorial in late August, he wasn’t sure where he was or how he’d gotten there.

Martinez spotted his mom and asked what was going on. She said he’d been in a car accident, and his first thought was, “I need to call Austin and tell him what happened.” Austin Machitar was Martinez’s partner at the San Diego Police Department.

Then someone explained that Machitar was dead, and Martinez wondered if he’d be able to go back to being an officer.

The fact that Martinez even had that choice to make is somewhat of a miracle.

Advertisement

Around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 26, someone reported a speeding BMW headed east on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. Police initially pursued the driver, but a supervisor quickly called them off because of how fast the other vehicle was going. Martinez and Machitar were on their way to the call when the BMW slammed into the side of their car.

Machitar, 30, was killed. Martinez, 27, was thrown from the vehicle. His neck broke. His brain bled. Multiple ribs were fractured, as were his cheekbones. One of the first officers who got to the scene thought he was dead.

Yet Martinez was back on patrol this weekend, and he addressed reporters Sunday outside the department’s Northern Division headquarters in full uniform, a Taser on his belt and a radio slung over his chest. The only obvious mark from the crash was mottled purple skin pulled tight across the top of his left hand.

Martinez doesn’t remember the collision. He barely remembers the day. He’s got a vague memory of going with a roommate to look at a truck before the shift, and of responding to a call at a motel with Machitar, but both seem almost too mundane to be in the same day that ended his partner’s life.

Martinez does recall being on the ground, surrounded by a strange mix of darkness and light, and asking God that he be given a second chance.

Advertisement

Martinez spent more than a week in San Diego hospitals before receiving additional treatment, including physical therapy and burn care, in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas. Once he regained his bearings, it wasn’t hard to recommit to the police department. He’d dreamed of being an officer ever since he was a kid, and one of the reasons he liked his job was Machitar, who’d helped train him and brought a lightness to every shift.

He now wears a black wristband with Machitar’s name on it. “I wish I would have said ‘thank you’ again,” Martinez said. “He had taught me a lot.”

He praised everyone from the mayor and police chief to his colleagues and neighbors for their ongoing support.

The accident also took the life of the driver, 16-year-old Edgar Giovanny Oviedo.

“I forgive him,” Martinez said. “This job, you see people that may not have the best intentions, they may not have done the best thing, but I gain nothing from holding a grudge against somebody.”

Advertisement

“I hope he’s at peace,” Martinez added.

Staff writer Teri Figueroa contributed to this report.

Originally Published:



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

San Diego, CA

Aztecs add 6 more transfers, including Central Michigan QB Bert Emanuel Jr.

Published

on

Aztecs add 6 more transfers, including Central Michigan QB Bert Emanuel Jr.


San Diego State has received a commitment from Central Michigan quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr., giving the Aztecs a pair of dual-threat transfers to compete for starting quarterback in spring practice.

Michigan transfer quarterback Jayden Denegal signed with the Aztecs following a midweek visit to campus.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Emanuel and the 6-5, 235-pound Denegal both have size, speed and strong arms. Both also have two years of eligibility remaining.

“I love competition,” Emanuel said Sunday morning before catching a flight home to Houston. “It brings out the best in people, so I feel like it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s always good for you. Iron sharpens iron.”

Advertisement

Emanuel and Denegal were among more than two dozen transfers who made recruiting visits to SDSU the past two weeks.

Seventeen of the players have made commitments, including six who visited this weekend.

In addition to Emanuel, SDSU also received commitments from wide receivers Jacob Bostick (Texas A&M) and Trayvon Rudolph (Northern Illinois), defensive lineman Malachi Finau (Hawaii), linebacker Mister Williams (Incarnate Word) and cornerback Kai Rapolla (Cal Poly).

San Diego State has greeted more than two dozen transfer recruits the past two weekends. (Kirk Kenney / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Emanuel said he is impressed with the culture SDSU coach Sean Lewis and his staff are establishing.

“Everyone here is in love with football,” he said. “They aren’t just here for the money. They truly love football and that’s the type of team I want to be a part of. … The energy in the program is great, and I believe in (Lewis’) plan and system to go out there and help us win games.”

Advertisement

SDSU got a glimpse of Emanuel in September, when he subbed for Central Michigan starting quarterback Joe Labas at times against the Aztecs. Emanuel attempted one pass while rushing six times for 32 yards in a 22-21 Chippewas victory.

Emanuel has been most impressive running the ball, carrying 145 times for 844 yards (6.1 ypc) and 12 touchdowns. The highlight was a 2022 game against Buffalo, when he rushed for 293 yards and three touchdowns. Emanuel is 27 of 51 passing for 439 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions.

Emanuel’s career has been sidetracked by injuries, but he’s healthy now and eager for a fresh start with the Aztecs.

“What I bring to the field is my dual-threat ability,” he said. “I am able to attack the defense through the air and also on the ground with my legs.”

Emanuel views himself as a good fit for the SDSU offense as “a dynamic quarterback here helping us win a lot of games and putting up a lot of points in the near future.”

Advertisement

Emanuel is the son of Bert Emanuel Sr., who was a college quarterback at UCLA and Rice before playing eight seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver.

“It helps a lot being able to sit back and just talk ball with him, any day, all day,” Emanuel said. “I know I can just call him and talk football.”

Among the newcomers joining Emanuel is Rudolph, who collected 151 receptions for 2,032 yards and 10 touchdowns during his time at Northern Illinois. The Huskies just happen to be SDSU’s Week 4 opponent on the 2025 schedule.

Rapolla had 41 tackles this season at Cal Poly, with three fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

Williams, who is the older brother of SDSU safety Prince Williams, had four sacks among 78 tackles this season at Incarnate Word.

Advertisement

SDSU received commitments from Denegal, running back Christian Williams (Coastal Carolina), a Helix High School graduate, and defensive back Dwayne McDougle (Idaho) after midweek visits.

The transfer commitments began pouring in just more than a week ago after SDSU brought in 11 players for visits. Seven players from that group have committed.

The offense added wide receiver Myles Kitt-Denton (Northwestern State), tight ends Jackson Ford (Tulsa) and Seth Adams (Southeastern Louisiana) and offensive lineman Bayo Kannike (Utah Tech).

The defense added edge Niles King (Grand Valley State) and linebacker Tanner Williams (Utah State). Punter Hunter Green (Northern Colorado) also signed.

SDSU had 22 players enter the transfer portal, though two who announced (wide receiver Jordan Napier and linebacker Brady Anderson) have decided to remain with the Aztecs.

Advertisement

Originally Published:



Source link

Continue Reading

San Diego, CA

Police Investigating Fatal Shooting at Independent Living Facility in Oak Park

Published

on

Police Investigating Fatal Shooting at Independent Living Facility in Oak Park


Law enforcement at the scene of a fatal shooting in Oak Park, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. Courtesy Onscene.Media

Law enforcement is investigating a fatal shooting that took place Saturday night at an independent living facility in the neighborhood of Oak Park.

Police responded to calls about an assault with a deadly weapon on the 3100 block of 54th St. at around 10:24 p.m. and arrived to find a man with a gunshot wound to his upper torso.

“[There are] several people inside the house that detectives are speaking with,” Lt. Lou Maggi with San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit told Onscene.Media.

“About nine people inside the house and then several more people outside.”

Advertisement

He added that investigators do not yet have a description of a suspect, but they do not believe that the shooting was random or that there is any threat to the community at large.

SDPD is asking anybody with any information to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293, or San Diego Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending