The Padres do not know if they’ll get Yu Darvish back. They do know not if Joe Musgrove will truly round into form. They do not know how long Michael King can go on like he has.
For at least a game, Martín Pérez looked like someone to rely on.
The 33-year-old veteran fired six strong innings in his debut with his new employer and the Padres’ bats snapped out of their Rockies’ trance in a 3-2 win on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 44,029 at Petco Park.
“That was awesome,” Pérez said after tying his season high with seven strikeouts. “I went out there and did my job. We scored runs and we won the game. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to help the team win … and every five days I’m going to go out there and try to do my job to help the team win.”
Saturday’s job was no small feat, even with the Rockies falling back to 30 games under .500.
After all, Colorado had won five straight meetings and was looking to clinch the season series — after just nine of 13 games played — when rookie right-hander Tanner Gordon opened the game with four perfect innings.
Here we go again?
A decision to bunt in the fifth inning played a pivotal role in snapping the Padres out of their funk against the Rockies.
Manny Machado presented the Padres with their first base runner of the game with a leadoff walk and Xander Bogaerts followed with a single off third baseman Ryan McMahon’s glove, setting up rookie Jackson Merrill to perhaps get the Padres rolling in a big inning.
Only one run was what mattered most at that point.
So Merrill made the decision to bunt the runners to second and third and David Peralta followed immediately with a groundball to second to create a whole new ballgame at 1-1.
It was the start the Padres needed.
Merrill knew it as he walked up to the plate in the fifth inning.
“A lot of things went through my head going up,” Merrill said. “First and second. I saw the guy pretty well the first AB. I could hit him. I could do damage, but for me with the bullpen we have now, we get to that sixth inning, Pérez got us through six … innings. Only one bad hit on us. If we get through that sixth and get a run and tie, you can see what our bullpen does. Keeps it really, really hard to get runs. … I just thought if we could get a run across here it changes the whole game.”
The 21-year-old rookie went on.
“And it’s these guys too,” he said. “For some reason, we just can’t get that final run or something to win. And they’ve been showing us. They’ve been showing us what they got all year. Just trying to do whatever I can to get a run across.”
Two innings later, Merrill’s sacrifice fly capped a two-run rally that provided just enough cushion for the revamped bullpen.
Jason Adam pitched a scoreless seventh. Tanner Scott allowed a home run to former Marlins teammate Jacob Stallings in his Padres debut. Then Robert Suarez preserved the one-run lead in the ninth with the help of first baseman Jake Cronenworth, who ventured into the baseline to reel in a throw from a whirling Manny Machado and tag out Brenton Doyle for the first out of the inning.
Almost like you’d draw it up after getting a lead, thanks to a rookie making a veteran decision.
It didn’t surprise Padres manager Mike Shildt.
“Jackson knows the situation,” Shildt said. “He wants to make a baseball play. He knows we haven’t scored. All right, this guy’s throwing the ball pretty darn well … and that’s what playoff baseball is gonna be like.
“Today was like a playoff game in that regard. And that’s what playoff games look like.”
After the Padres scored in the fifth, Gordon turned in another scoreless frame for the majors’ worst pitching staff (5.46 ERA) before the Padres got to work on Colorado’s bullpen.
Cronenworth led off with a single, Machado dropped a soft double behind first base and Bogaerts gave the Padres a 2-1 lead with a sharp single to left, putting runners on the corners.
Merrill’s ensuing fly ball to the warning tracking in left proved to be useful insurance when Stallings’ pinch-hit homer in the eighth snapped Scott’s 17⅔-inning scoreless streak.
Pérez more than did his part in his Padres debut, tying a season high with seven strikeouts over six largely low-stress innings.
Hunter Goodman tagged Perez for a home run with one out in the third inning.
He gave up back-to-back, two-out singles in the fifth inning.
And that’s it, as Pérez had thrown just 80 pitches — 60 strikes — in handing a 1-1 game to the bullpen.
While the 33-year-old Pérez had struggled as he returned from a groin injury in late June, he’d thrown six shutout innings in his last start before the trade deadline to encourage suitors to take a look.
Saturday’s start lowered Pérez’s ERA to 4.96 on the season.
“I’m good; I’m relaxed,” Pérez said afterward. “I think this is just the start. We’re going to have a good future over the last two months.”
Originally Published: