Injured Eaton sees streak end
DETROIT -- Padres pitcher Adam Eaton entered Wednesday night's game against the Detroit Tigers riding a personal eight-game winning streak and a reputation of throwing heat.
When Eaton's night was over, he had allowed six runs (three earned), been roughed up and his outing had lasted only 2 1/3 innings. Eaton had also suffered an injury to the middle finger on his right hand that might cost him a start or two in the Padres' pitching rotation.
The Padres lost, 8-2, to the Tigers, who were fueled by a three-run second inning. Trailing 2-1, Eaton faced Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco and had battled him to a 2-2 count. That's when the knuckle popped -- and the injury occurred.
"I was throwing a slider to Polanco and it almost felt like cracking your knuckles,'' said Eaton, who slipped to 9-2 on the year. "Anytime that I was trying to put pressure on it, it hurt.''
Though the injury hasn't been diagnosed, it "hurts between the middle and top knuckles,'' Eaton said.
Padres manager Bruce Bochy said that Eaton would be evaluated on Thursday morning by team doctors.
"He said that he had felt it in the second inning, but he went out in the third (to pitch),'' Bochy said, of Eaton's injury.
It was a painful ending to what had been a good run for Eaton, who hadn't lost a decision since April 16 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"I felt like I could've put up a lot of zeroes,'' Eaton said. "It's disappointing not to have a chance to make something happen, but I am happy with the way that the first 13 starts went. My goal with all the starts was to give the team a chance to win the game -- that's all I care about.''
For the Padres, it was much of the same: an untimely error and unreliable hitting. It all added up to the San Diego's second consecutive loss and the team's eighth in its last 10.
Besides scoring only two runs on seven hits, the Padres only managed one extra base hit -- shortstop Khalil Greene's double in the first inning.
"We're just real quiet with the bats -- we're struggling a bit right now,'' Bochy said "We need to get back to where we were.''
With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the second, the Tigers did something that not many teams have done since April -- they got to Eaton, batting around on him.
The damage started with a single by Craig Monroe, who moved to second on Phil Nevin's error on a fielder's choice. For the second straight night, an error hurt the Padres.
Nevin's gaffe allowed Chris Shelton to reach base and later score.
After Monroe moved to third on another fielder's choice, he scored the go-ahead run for the Tigers when Brandon Inge ripped an Eaton fastball for a single. The Tigers added two more on Polanco's two-run single that scored Shelton and Inge, pushing the score to 4-1.
"The shame is the damage that the errors are causing,'' Bochy said.
In the third, the Tigers scored twice, on back-to-back doubles by Monroe and Shelton. Two batters later, Eaton walked Tigers center fielder Nook Logan and Bochy yanked him.
Reliever Darrell May gave up a double to Polanco that scored Shelton, extending the Padres' deficit to 6-1. In the seventh, Monroe added a two-run homer off May that fell just inside the foul pole in left field to give the Tigers an 8-1 lead. In the ninth, the Padres scored when Robert Fick drove home Ryan Klesko, but the game ended on a double play.
The home run was the lone mistake that May made, as he pitched the remaining 5 2/3 innings after Eaton left with the injury.
"That's what you want your long man to do,'' Bochy said of May. "We just couldn't mount any kind of offense.''
Just as they had in the series opener, the Padres scored first. Dave Roberts led off the game with a single and the hot-hitting Greene drove him home with an RBI double.
In the bottom half of the first, the Tigers answered; Polanco singled, Dmitri Young was hit by a pitch and Rondell White's single scored Polanco from second, tying the score.
Source: http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/
When Eaton's night was over, he had allowed six runs (three earned), been roughed up and his outing had lasted only 2 1/3 innings. Eaton had also suffered an injury to the middle finger on his right hand that might cost him a start or two in the Padres' pitching rotation.
The Padres lost, 8-2, to the Tigers, who were fueled by a three-run second inning. Trailing 2-1, Eaton faced Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco and had battled him to a 2-2 count. That's when the knuckle popped -- and the injury occurred.
"I was throwing a slider to Polanco and it almost felt like cracking your knuckles,'' said Eaton, who slipped to 9-2 on the year. "Anytime that I was trying to put pressure on it, it hurt.''
Though the injury hasn't been diagnosed, it "hurts between the middle and top knuckles,'' Eaton said.
Padres manager Bruce Bochy said that Eaton would be evaluated on Thursday morning by team doctors.
"He said that he had felt it in the second inning, but he went out in the third (to pitch),'' Bochy said, of Eaton's injury.
It was a painful ending to what had been a good run for Eaton, who hadn't lost a decision since April 16 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"I felt like I could've put up a lot of zeroes,'' Eaton said. "It's disappointing not to have a chance to make something happen, but I am happy with the way that the first 13 starts went. My goal with all the starts was to give the team a chance to win the game -- that's all I care about.''
For the Padres, it was much of the same: an untimely error and unreliable hitting. It all added up to the San Diego's second consecutive loss and the team's eighth in its last 10.
Besides scoring only two runs on seven hits, the Padres only managed one extra base hit -- shortstop Khalil Greene's double in the first inning.
"We're just real quiet with the bats -- we're struggling a bit right now,'' Bochy said "We need to get back to where we were.''
With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the second, the Tigers did something that not many teams have done since April -- they got to Eaton, batting around on him.
The damage started with a single by Craig Monroe, who moved to second on Phil Nevin's error on a fielder's choice. For the second straight night, an error hurt the Padres.
Nevin's gaffe allowed Chris Shelton to reach base and later score.
After Monroe moved to third on another fielder's choice, he scored the go-ahead run for the Tigers when Brandon Inge ripped an Eaton fastball for a single. The Tigers added two more on Polanco's two-run single that scored Shelton and Inge, pushing the score to 4-1.
"The shame is the damage that the errors are causing,'' Bochy said.
In the third, the Tigers scored twice, on back-to-back doubles by Monroe and Shelton. Two batters later, Eaton walked Tigers center fielder Nook Logan and Bochy yanked him.
Reliever Darrell May gave up a double to Polanco that scored Shelton, extending the Padres' deficit to 6-1. In the seventh, Monroe added a two-run homer off May that fell just inside the foul pole in left field to give the Tigers an 8-1 lead. In the ninth, the Padres scored when Robert Fick drove home Ryan Klesko, but the game ended on a double play.
The home run was the lone mistake that May made, as he pitched the remaining 5 2/3 innings after Eaton left with the injury.
"That's what you want your long man to do,'' Bochy said of May. "We just couldn't mount any kind of offense.''
Just as they had in the series opener, the Padres scored first. Dave Roberts led off the game with a single and the hot-hitting Greene drove him home with an RBI double.
In the bottom half of the first, the Tigers answered; Polanco singled, Dmitri Young was hit by a pitch and Rondell White's single scored Polanco from second, tying the score.
Source: http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/
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