The San Diego Padres were out of available players on the bench heading into the seventh inning of a 9-5 win Friday night over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers.
Already without starting catcher Luis Camposano (thumb), San Diego lost Fernando Tatis Jr. (elbow) after he was hit by a pitch. Jose Azucar had to enter the game as a pinch runner for Jurickson Profar after the latter appeared to hurt his leg while running out a double in the seventh inning.
Head coach Mike Shildt may have to make some changes to his strong lineup for Saturday’s game, the third of a four-game series on the weekend.
If Camposano has to hit the injured list, the Padres may recall catcher Brett Sullivan from Triple-A El Paso to backup Kyle Higashioka. Utility man Tyler Wade was the emergency catcher.
“I don’t think we’re overly concerned about it, but we’ll see how it goes moving forward,” Shildt said Friday of Camposano’s injury.
Tatis has been playing for several weeks with a right quad injury and is now suffering from another ailment. Colin Rea drilled him with a fastball in the third inning and Tatis was in pain but stayed in the game until Wade struck him out in the fifth.
Profar, who finished second with his double, missed last week’s game with a knee injury that he said has bothered him at times this year. One pitch on Jake Cronenworth’s strikeout lifted Shildt Profar for Azucar. The status of Tatis and Profar for Saturday’s game was not immediately known.
San Diego right-hander Randy Vasquez (1-4, 5.70 ERA) is trying to rebound from a miserable outing Monday night in Philadelphia, where he absorbed a 9-2 loss. Vasquez was touched with 12 hits and six runs in 4 1/3 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. He will face Milwaukee for the first time in his career.
Meanwhile, the Brewers are hoping rookie Carlos Rodriguez (0-2, 6.48) can slow down an opponent who has collected 16 points on 25 hits in the Series. Rodriguez last pitched Monday night, a 5-3 loss at the Los Angeles Angels after yielding five runs (four earned) on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
“I thought he was good the first two innings, and then he kind of lost his feel for his fastball,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said of Rodriguez. “And that really gave them opportunities. After that, there wasn’t enough swing and miss to keep the runs from scoring.”
The same can be said about Friday night’s game from the Brewers’ perspective. In addition to allowing 15 hits, five of Milwaukee’s pitchers combined for exactly two hits — one each for relievers Jared Koenig and Elvis Piguero.
Wasted was another solid offensive effort by the Brewers, who finished with 11 hits and added his 105th stolen base of the year via Tyler Black. Milwaukee, which ranks second in MLB in steals behind only Cincinnati (107), is on pace to record more than 220 steals.
No National League team since the 1993 Montreal Expos, who finished with 228 steals, has been able to surpass 201.
“You have to have the personnel to emphasize that and be proficient at it,” Murphy said of using the stolen base.
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