One Of Those Nights

Despite the league’s best efforts to quicken the pace of play and add excitement to the game, the Reds and Padres put forth eleven innings of baseball reminiscent of the early days of Petco Park when dominant pitching, cavernous dimensions, and a heavy marine layer suppressed scoring and slowly broke the will of those in attendance.

Padres pitching issued at least one walk in each of the first five innings, ignored runners, and created multiple opportunities for the visitors to seize control in regulation before the Reds finally obliged in extras. Sal Stewart’s two-run homer off Yuki Matsui in the 11th harkened back to the days when clouts off the bats of Rich Aurilia, Wily Mo Peña, or even Javier Valentin determined outcomes for the visitors from Cincinnati. It was one of those games where the winning team celebrates relief more than victory, and the losing team takes solace that first pitch tomorrow is only a little more than 12 hours away. This game reminded me so much of my first seasons with the Padres that I almost drove to home to a condo in Pacific Beach that I last had the keys to when Bruce Bochy was manager.

I was excited for this game, too.

The Reds have thoughtfully assembled a stable of homegrown arms over recent years, devoting top picks in the amateur draft to pitching. Chase Burns, the second overall selection in the 2024 Draft, was facing the Padres for the first time in his career. With a fastball that reaches triple digits and a nasty power slider, Burns is pitching his way to Philadelphia, site of next month’s All-Star Game.

In the bottom of the first, he disposed of an aggressive top of the lineup in six pitches. With an approach that could be described as “Avoid The Slider,” Padres hitters were ready to swing.

Fernando Tatis Jr. offered at the first pitch — a 97 MPH heater on the outer part of the plate — and popped it harmlessly to Reds first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. Jackson Merrill took a first-pitch strike — because he had to after Tatis’ at-bat — before going down swinging on a 1-2 slider. Manny Machado followed Tatis’ cue and skied the first pitch he saw — a fastball coming in at 99 MPH — into right field. What could we learn from a six-pitch frame against three batters who accounted for 77% of the career plate appearances in a lesser experienced Padres lineup? That it was going to be one of those nights.

After all, it was the first time in MLB history — the Elias Sports Bureau doesn’t track this kind of information, so just go with me here — that the player honored with a bobblehead was placed on the Paternity List on the same day as the giveaway. While Xander Bogaerts and his wife awaited the arrival of their second child, “Bogey Goes Boom” Bobblehead Night at Petco Park left most in attendance shaking their heads.

Burns operates from the third base side of the rubber. His arm is loose and whippy; his delivery is explosive; his stuff is electric.

But the second time through the lineup, the aggressive Padres hitters were better grounded. It was as if they collectively realized that they had given the young pitcher too much credit the first time around. After shortstop Sung-Mun Song — starting at shortstop for the absent bobblehead — struck out, Tatis lined a 1-2 slider into center. Merrill then ambushed the next pitch into the right field corner. Two of the Padres most dynamic athletes were underway. While Tatis sprinted around the bases, Merrill matched him stride for stride before diving head first into third base.

The spell that Burns held over the home dugout in the first inning had burned off like June Gloom on a sunny afternoon. For the second time in the inning, the Padres got the best of Burns on a 1-2 slider: Machado protected the plate, kept his hands back, and poked the ball over the drawn-in infield for a knock and an RBI. The game was tied. And it would remain tied for a while, despite three stolen bases from Reds shortstop Matt McLain, despite a one-out, bases-loaded opportunity for Padres catcher Freddy Fermin, despite Jason Adam walking the first two batters of the Reds eighth, despite Machado’s leadoff double later that inning and Gavin Sheets’ textbook ground ball to the right side to advance the runner. Despite Manny Machado coming to bat with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth.

It was one of those nights at Petco.