SAN DIEGO -- It’s becoming likelier by the day: The Padres look Wild Card Series-bound. And unless they get red-hot during the season’s final 2 1/2 weeks, they’re probably going on the road for it.
So … Game 1, Sept. 30, a potentially hostile environment -- who gets the ball?
Nick Pivetta is making quite a case.
San Diego dropped Wednesday’s series finale to the Reds, 2-1, at Petco Park -- a crisp pitchers’ duel featuring some outstanding defense and a dominant Pivetta. Cincinnati grabbed the lead in the eighth on a pair of seeing-eye singles against lefty relief ace Adrian Morejon. That was that, on a night when Fernando Tatis Jr.’s solo home run made up the entirety of the offense.
With the loss, the Padres fell seven games back of the Phillies, the team they would need to catch to secure a first-round bye. They’re five games ahead of the Reds and Giants, the two teams in the first spot on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. They’re four back of the Cubs and three back of the Dodgers.
With 16 games left, the Padres are most likely headed for a Wild Card Series -- barring something stunning in one direction or the other. Unless they can catch either the Cubs or Dodgers, that series is going to come in a tough road setting. Is there anyone the Padres would trust more in that setting right now than Pivetta?
“We know Nick’s going to meet the challenge,” manager Mike Shildt said of Pivetta’s performance down the stretch. “He met it tonight. Clearly we expect and have a lot of confidence in him being able to do it in the future.”
Pivetta was again brilliant on Wednesday, working seven scoreless innings. He allowed only four hits -- all singles -- and a walk, while striking out eight. Really, the only jeopardy came when Ramón Laureano robbed Ke’Bryan Hayes of a homer in the seventh. (After Tatis’ effort on Tuesday, it marked the Padres’ second home run robbery in as many nights.)
That catch ended Pivetta’s night -- and lowered his ERA to 2.73. The effort -- on a night when the Padres had four of their highest leverage relief arms unavailable -- was not lost on Shildt.
“Nick went into the game knowing we didn’t have a lot … available for tonight’s game in the bullpen,” Shildt said. “He knew that going in, and he met the challenge.”
The Padres signed Pivetta on the day of their first full-squad workout in Spring Training, and it’s hard to overstate what he’s meant to their starting rotation since. Opening Day starter Michael King missed most of 3 1/2 months before his return to the mound on Tuesday.
Yu Darvish and Dylan Cease, meanwhile, have dealt with maddening inconsistency all season (and in Darvish’s case, he missed time with injury as well). Through it all, Pivetta has been the steadying presence.
The Padres are hopeful that King can return to his dominant form, and they’ll be able to enter the postseason with a 1-2 punch of him and Pivetta, plus one of the sport’s most dominant bullpens.
It’s not entirely clear what order they’d pitch (nor is it really all that important). But the point is, the Padres would feel perfectly fine handing the ball to Pivetta. Not that he’s put any thought into that notion.
“I try not to look too far forward,” Pivetta said. “I feel like you get lost in it. I’ve got a start coming up here soon. I look forward to that challenge. I look forward to that game.”
That game will come next week in another playoff-type environment: at Citi Field against the Mets, who are currently clinging desperately to the NL’s final playoff spot.
Of course, the Padres still have work to do to secure their own place in the postseason. And with the sport’s easiest remaining strength of schedule, they’re very much alive in the race for both the NL West and the top Wild Card spot.
But whether it’s at Petco Park or, say, Wrigley Field, the Padres are heading toward a huge baseball game on Sept. 30. And they might have just the guy to give the ball to.
“We have all the confidence in the world [in Pivetta],” Tatis said. “The guy has been a Cy Young [candidate] this year. He has pitched and managed himself that way. When he’s on the mound, we feel all the confidence in the world.”