SAN DIEGO -- Nick Pivetta turned to the infielders who converged on the mound behind him and gave each of them a high five. He did the same to catcher Elias Díaz, before shaking hands with Mike Shildt just as the manager reached the mound to remove Pivetta from Sunday afternoon’s series finale.
Then, as Pivetta took his first step off that mound toward the home dugout, a sold-out Petco Park erupted. A brilliant first half from Pivetta was getting the recognition it deserved in the form of a standing ovation.
The Padres enter the All-Star break at 52-44, clinging to a half-game lead for the final Wild Card spot in the National League -- after they dropped their first-half finale, 2-1, to the Phillies.
Through no fault of Pivetta.
Pivetta was brilliant again, allowing only an unearned run over 6 2/3 innings, while striking out eight and lowering his ERA to 2.88. In a first half full of injury concerns and depth question marks in the San Diego rotation, Pivetta has been a stabilizing force.
“He’s been outstanding,” said Shildt. “We’ve got five guys headed to the All-Star Game. He should be on that plane. But he’s an All-Star for us and a big part of the reason we’ve had a successful first half.”
And, presumably, Pivetta is a big part of the reason the Padres feel optimistic about their second half. Reasonably, they can expect more from Dylan Cease, whose numbers haven’t been up to par, though his underlying metrics have been better lately.
Yu Darvish, meanwhile, has rejoined the rotation after missing more than three months with right elbow inflammation. Michael King is on his way back, too. All while Pivetta has emerged as a force after signing a four-year deal with the Padres on the first day of full-squad Spring Training.
“He’s freaking awesome, man,” said Manny Machado. “He’s different. But he’s fun to play behind. He’s a guy you want to go out and compete behind every single day. He brings the energy.”
Different? In what way? You’d only need to watch a couple innings of Pivetta’s mannerisms on the mound to understand -- the way he stalks around the infield grass after key outs, the way he reacts to big plays, the way he seems to do everything with full tempo.
“He doesn’t talk much when he’s not pitching,” Machado said. “But he brings a lot of noise. … You see all those emotions. And you know what? I love that.”
There were times in the past when Pivetta could have done a better job channeling those emotions. Self-admittedly, he never has been as consistent as he’d like to be. He joined the Padres with a 4.76 ERA across eight seasons with Boston and Philadelphia, and he never posted a mark below 4.00.
In San Diego, Pivetta has established a level of consistency that he never has before. His 2.88 ERA, 122 strikeouts and .205 opponents’ batting average were all career bests for a first half. But Pivetta chooses not to see it that way. The consistency he’s searching for requires a full season’s worth of results.
“I don’t really think about it too much,” Pivetta said of those first-half numbers. “Because we’ve got a whole season to go. I think about it as a whole season, not just a first half and a second half.”
Ultimately, two first-inning errors may have denied Pivetta the chance to become the second pitcher in franchise history with 10 wins and 100 strikeouts before the All-Star break. That feat was accomplished by Kevin Brown -- who also wore No. 27 and was also famously surly on the mound as well -- during the greatest pitching season in franchise history in 1998.
Machado and Luis Arraez both made errant throws on ground balls that could have ended the top of the first. Pivetta was charged with an unearned run and used up extra pitches. Still, he recorded two outs in the seventh and left in a tie game.
With a short-handed bullpen, the Padres fell short. J.T. Realmuto smacked the game-winning double in the top of the eighth off right-hander David Morgan. It sent the Padres into the break with a sour taste in their mouths. But they could still appreciate a 6-4 homestand and where it leaves them.
“Good baseball throughout the course of the whole homestand,” said Shildt. “It’s good momentum -- going into the break and moving forward.”