Fernando Tatis Jr. and everyone else knew what was at stake for him in the eighth inning Wednesday afternoon.
“I mean, a hitting streak, maybe the last at-bat you feel a little pressure because nobody wants to lose it,” Donovan Solano said after the Padres beat the Oakland A’s 5-4. “You want to continue. But a tremendous at-bat to get on base with the walk. I think he thinks more for the team instead of for himself.”
With that walk, which included his laying off a 100 mph sinker from Lucas Erceg just below the strike zone with a full count, Tatis’ 17-game hit streak effectively came to an end.
But the walk also meant Tatis was on base when, two batters later, Solano hit a ball over the wall in center field that tied the game 4-4.
“Just having a good at-bat,” Tatis said. “Baseball. At the end of the day, it’s better to help the team. … I feel the right way about this game. It’s the ‘W’ at the end. That helped a little bit for us to win. So it was just a good thing of baseball.”
Tatis’ streak, during which he hit .400 with a 1.113 OPS, was the longest by a Padres player since 2006.
“Just grateful for the hitting streak,” he said after going 0-for-3 Wednesday. “So now let’s start another one.”
Profar update
Left fielder Jurickson Profar did not play Wednesday after departing Tuesday night’s game with a flareup of his left patellar tendinitis.
“I have been dealing with this for years.” Profar said. “Some days it’s just really bad. Yesterday was the worst day in a while.”
He said the knee “has been bad for more than a month” but he has learned how to manage it.
Very effectively, in fact. Profar’s .324 batting average is second in the major leagues behind teammate Luis Arraez (.326), and his .424 on-base percentage leads the National League.
Profar also said Wednesday morning he was “fine” and could play.
“As you would expect, Pro is like, ‘I got an at-bat,’” Padres manager Mike Shildt said after the game. “And I was like, ‘Let’s save the at-bat. Let’s just make sure.’ The guy is a warrior, man. I just absolutely love that guy. But he was not available, much to his chagrin.”
An MRI Tuesday confirmed no further damage than what Profar has played through for some time, and he said he expects to play Friday in New York against the Mets.
“He made strides today,” Shildt said. “… We feel like he’s going to be good. It’s something he’s going to deal with. You get to this part of the season and guys that are everyday guys … typically, there’s something guys are maybe dealing with. We’ll monitor it. We’ll listen to him.”
King’s dozen
Michael King knew that no matter how much his sweeper and changeup were working Wednesday, he was not on track to have the kind of game he wanted.
“A good start has to be deep into the game,” he said. “Me going five (innings) doesn’t help the team, even if it is 12 strikeouts.”
Those were the numbers King finished with Wednesday, taking 98 pitches to get two batters into the sixth inning.
King was at 58 pitches after three innings and then struck out the side on 11 pitches in the fourth to provide himself a reset.
But then Daz Cameron, the first batter in the fifth, saw 10 pitches.
“That whole at-bat, that’s what I’m thinking about,” King said of his pitch count. “One, it should never have been a three-ball count, and two, I let him foul off three pitches. So those are the ones where I’m just begging for a ball to be put in play and move onto the next guy.”
By the time the fifth inning was over, King was at 90 pitches, and Shildt had already determined the right-hander would face just two batters in the sixth.
“He’d done his part,” Shildt said. “He’d more than done his part.”
King yielded singles to those two batters, and reliever Wandy Peralta surrendered three more, as the A’s took a 3-2 lead.
“Efficiency is an issue there,” King said. “I know that when you have a lot of strikeouts, you still can be efficient. And there were two walks. But then a (nine-pitch and) 10-pitch at-bats that really add up. I think that’s what hurt us in that sixth inning.”
Darvish update
Yu Darvish is expected to throw a simulated game Friday at Citi Field as part of his buildup to a return from the injured list, which could come as soon as the Padres’ series in Philadelphia next week.
Darvish last pitched on May 29 before succumbing to a left groin strain.
He has thrown two bullpen sessions in the past week and Wednesday morning, after fielding grounders off the mound.
“Everything has gone perfect,” Darvish said of his recovery.
