If there was a blueprint for a Padres victory this postseason, it might look loads like their 3-0 victory over the Cubs on Wednesday. The Friars bought some standout moments from superstars Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Jackson Merrill, and their bullpen fully shut down the opposition behind a stable 3 2/3 inning begin from Dylan Stop. The win forces a decisive closing recreation of the Wild Card collection on Thursday.
Pitching dominated the day for San Diego. Stop was glorious in his abbreviated begin, permitting simply 4 baserunners whereas putting out 5. He generated 15 whiffs on 37 swings — a 41% whiff price — and his slider was completely unhittable. He labored round innocent singles within the first and third innings. Solely after a two-out double from Seiya Suzuki within the fourth did Padres supervisor Mike Shildt flip to his bullpen. After deliberately strolling Carson Kelly to get to Pete Crow-Armstrong, Adrian Morejon rapidly dismissed the Cubs middle fielder with a weak groundout to first.
Morejon pitched two extra clear innings, then handed the ball off to Mason Miller. Miller struck out 5 Cubs hitters in a row, then plunked Michael Busch with two outs within the eighth inning. With a person on first, Shildt once more went to the bullpen, calling on Robert Suarez to get the ultimate out. Nico Hoerner lined a pitch to deep proper discipline, however Tatis made an acrobatic catch to finish the inning. Suarez allowed a one-out single to Kyle Tucker within the ninth, however bought Suzuki to hit right into a game-ending double play to safe the victory.
With their season on the road, Shildt was clearly managing to win immediately. The short hook with Stop meant that his bullpen wanted to cowl the remaining 5 1/3 innings. Stop had reached 69 pitches by the point Suzuki doubled within the fourth, nevertheless it didn’t seem like he was laboring. Morejon had already gotten heat within the earlier inning, and strolling Kelly to get to Crow-Armstrong appeared like strategic transfer in an early high-leverage spot. PCA had limped to a .231 wOBA over the previous two months and had produced only a .250 wOBA in opposition to left-handed pitching this 12 months. However that quick begin from Stop and subsequent heavy bullpen utilization clearly has some knock-on results for Thursday’s recreation.
Padres Bullpen Utilization
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | BB | Ok | Recreation 1 Pitch Depend | Recreation 2 Pitch Depend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrian Morejon | 3.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 33 |
| Mason Miller | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 27 |
| Jeremiah Estrada | 0.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Robert Suarez | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
Robert Suarez and Jeremiah Estrada have solely been used as soon as every on this collection, however Morejon and Miller have thrown greater than 40 pitches apiece. I’m certain each will say they’re obtainable to pitch for a 3rd day in a row, however Shildt needs to be cautious of burning them out. If Recreation 3 is shut and the Padres are main, I wouldn’t be stunned to see Miller for an inning on Thursday. Fortunately, Suarez and Estrada received’t have any restrictions for that closing recreation within the collection, and Michael King may very well be obtainable to pitch if vital.
Again to Wednesday’s recreation. San Diego bought on the board early, scratching throughout a run within the first inning in opposition to opener Andrew Kittredge. Tatis and Luis Arraez began the sport off with back-to-back singles after which efficiently accomplished a double steal with one out within the inning. That put a runner on third for Jackson Merrill, who hit a deep sacrifice fly to get the primary run on the board.
Cubs supervisor Craig Counsell’s determination to make use of Kittredge as an opener forward of Shota Imanaga was affordable. Imanaga has actually struggled within the first inning this 12 months — he has a 7.20 ERA within the first body and a 5.08 ERA in his first time by means of a lineup — and he’d limped to a 6.51 ERA over his closing 5 regular-season begins. Kittredge had been one in all Chicago’s higher high-leverage relievers since he was acquired from the Orioles in July, and a fast first inning may have arrange Imanaga to face a string of left-handed batters in the midst of the Padres lineup within the second inning. Issues simply didn’t work out the best way Counsell drew it up, and the crew was on the again foot from the get-go.
The actual killer blow got here within the fifth inning. With a runner on second and two outs, Imanaga grooved a first-pitch splitter to Machado. The star third baseman launched the pitch 404 toes into the left discipline bleachers.
Machado completed the common season in a little bit of a bizarre stoop. He blasted six dwelling runs in September, however his general line that month was simply an 85 wRC+. That was an enchancment over the 70 wRC+ he had posted in August, however he was nonetheless making an attempt to regain his type after a usually stable first half of the season.
I’d even be remiss if I didn’t point out how completely dominant Miller has been on this collection. In Recreation 1, he struck out the aspect within the seventh inning. At the moment, he picked up proper the place he left off, putting out 5 batters in a row earlier than a back-foot slider to Busch grazed its supposed goal within the eighth. After which there was this absolute great thing about a pitch to strike out Kelly within the seventh:
At 104.5 mph, that was the quickest pitch ever recorded within the postseason, and the fourth-fastest pitch leading to a strikeout within the pitch monitoring period (regular-season or postseason). And the pitch dotted the decrease outdoors nook for a referred to as strike three! Miller’s four-seamer averaged 103.0 mph in his outing immediately. Simply have a look at these completely insane outcomes from his two outings within the postseason:
Mason Miller Dominance
| Pitch | Depend | Whiffs | Known as Strikes | Whiff% | CSW% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-seam | 16 | 7 | 1 | 77.8% | 50.0% |
| Slider | 24 | 4 | 9 | 57.1% | 54.2% |
He’s been fully unhittable. I already mentioned his availability for Recreation 3 above, but when the Padres want him, I’m certain he’ll be able to pitch one other shutdown inning on Thursday.
That decisive recreation will probably function extra bullpen machinations from each groups. Yu Darvish and Jameson Taillon are listed because the starters, however I think about each managers can be fast to tug them on the first signal of hazard. If there’s one profit to the Cubs’ loss on Wednesday, it’s that the perfect arms of their bullpen are rested. Kittredge will in all probability solely be obtainable in an emergency, however Daniel Palencia, Brad Keller, and Drew Pomeranz have all had a day’s relaxation forward of Thursday’s contest. That simply may give them the sting in what ought to be a really tightly contested elimination recreation.