Paddack dominates, Renfroe delivers in LA
LOS ANGELES -- Chris Paddack beat Joc Pederson to the first-base bag to end the fifth inning on Saturday night, and, well, how else would you expect the fiery young right-hander to react?
Paddack has never been one to hide his emotions. The demonstrative rookie was in the process of putting an exclamation point on his breakout first half. He’d escaped a bases-loaded one-out jam before a packed house at Dodger Stadium.
His right foot hit the base, and Paddack leapt into the air, unleashing two demonstrative fist pumps. After rolling the baseball toward the mound, Paddack roared as he walked to the visitors’ dugout.
Two innings later, Hunter Renfroe hit yet another go-ahead home run against the Dodgers, and Manuel Margot followed with an important two-run shot in the eighth. The Padres were on their way to a 3-1 victory, bringing them within a game of .500.
“It's a good team over there,” Paddack said. “But we're showing them that we belong.”
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The win served as something of a full-circle moment for Paddack, whose 5 2/3 scoreless frames lowered his ERA to 2.84. He took a circuitous route to get there. After a brilliant start to the season, things came unraveled for Paddack at Dodger Stadium in mid-May. He allowed six runs and didn’t make it through the fifth.
“They got me the first outing here in L.A,” he said. “I just wanted to show 'em, that's not Chris Paddack.”
Following that mid-May start, Paddack fell into something of a rut. His next four outings were nothing like the first seven. After a so-so performance in San Francisco in mid-June, Paddack was optioned to the Minor Leagues (even though he wouldn’t throw a pitch there). The Padres asked him to pause and reset for 10 days.
It sure feels like the move paid off. In three starts since his return, Paddack owns a 1.62 ERA. His performance on Saturday night was easily the best of those three.
“I'm glad that I've gotten beaten up a little bit, because I've gotten to learn from those mistakes,” Paddack said. “Being who I am, I want to be perfect every outing, but that's not reality. I thought it was good for me to get touched up a little bit. It kind of humbled me, got me back on my feet and I've learned.”
He’s putting those lessons to good use. Paddack came out pumping his mid-90s fastball early and often on Saturday night. He retired the first 11 hitters he faced before Justin Turner shot a single to left in the fourth.
The Dodgers wouldn’t truly threaten until the fifth inning, when Russell Martin’s single loaded the bases with one out. But Paddack struck out Kenta Maeda before Pederson chopped one toward first base. Eric Hosmer fielded it well beyond the bag and flipped to Paddack, who let loose.
“Going into the game, I had a gameplan,” Paddack said, “and a little redemption on the back of my mind.”
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Rally Renfroe
Another night, another big home run for Renfroe.
The Padres slugger had struck out twice against Maeda when he came to the plate in the seventh. But Maeda hung a slider on the outside corner, and Renfroe sent a rocket 424 feet to straightaway center field.
“When you swing at enough sliders, eventually they'll throw one you can hit,” he quipped.
“It’s just a big win,” said Padres manager Andy Green. “We did not have good at-bats against Maeda. But Hunter does what Hunter does.”
Renfroe has put the Padres ahead with a late home run in all three of their victories over the Dodgers this year. He did so on May 5 with a pinch-hit walk-off grand slam, and he did so on Friday night with a go-ahead blast in the top of the eighth.
Renfroe’s exploits aren’t limited to the Dodgers either. His 12 go-ahead home runs are second most in the Majors behind the 13 from Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich. Renfroe also passed Yelich for the Major League lead in homers per at-bat. He’s going yard once every 9.7 ABs.
With 27 dingers, Renfroe has already set a career high. He’d gone deep 26 times in each of the past two seasons.
“I wasn't looking for 27 -- or whatever many -- homers in the first half,” Renfroe said. “I was just looking for consistent at-bats, consistent swings and staying healthy.”
Check. Check. And check. And he has some big home runs to show for it.
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Not-so-funny bone
For the second time in as many nights, Fernando Tatis Jr. dealt with an injury scare. Maeda plunked the Padres’ rookie shortstop in the left elbow with a changeup in the top of the eighth inning, sending Tatis behind the batters’ box in a heap, where he was evaluated by team trainers.
After a few moments on the ground, Tatis stood up, grimaced and walked to first base. He would remain in the game, though Green said it’s possible Tatis will be out of the lineup on Sunday as a precaution.
On Friday night, Tatis dealt with a similar injury to his other elbow. His right arm collided with the helmet of a sliding Austin Barnes at second base. He would remain in that game as well.