Padres' brilliant bullpen dazzles Mets
Heath Bell #21 of the San Diego Padres celebrates the win with catcher Nick Hundley #4 against the New York Mets. (June 10, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
When the season began, opponents were asking of the Padres' pitching staff, "Who are these guys?"
Now, it's more like, "How good are these guys?"
The Mets certainly know. They went down in quick and painless fashion to four Padres pitchers in a 4-2 loss Thursday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader. After Henry Blanco's two-run homer in the second inning, Mat Latos and the majors' best bullpen retired the next 22 Mets in order, 10 by strikeout.
"Before the season, nobody knew who they were. Now, they're making a name for themselves," Mets second baseman Alex Cora said. "Those guys throw strikes. And not just right down the middle, they make quality pitches."
None more so than 26-year-old righthander Luke Gregerson, a middle reliever who has the Mets and the rest of the league befuddled. Gregerson struck out the side in the seventh after replacing Latos, getting Ike Davis, David Wright and Jeff Francoeur.
That makes two straight games in which Gregerson struck out the side on the Mets, and he improved his stats to a gaudy 39 strikeouts to only three walks in 29 games. He hasn't walked a batter for 100 consecutive at-bats, an ever-growing team record.
And he's typical of what the Padres have: cheap, young arms who have very specific roles. No Padres reliever makes more than closer Heath Bell, who's earning a modest $4 million. Gregerson, who struggled with social anxiety last season before being dealt from the Cardinals to San Diego, is making $417,000.
"He's got a terrific slider," said Francoeur, who also whiffed against Gregerson in the ninth inning Tuesday night. "I went up there looking slider [Tuesday] and he got me with nothing but fastballs. Today, I was looking fastball and he got me with sliders.
"These guys are good."
Mike Adams, another Padres reliever with a tidy ERA - his is 2.54, and there are four in their bullpen who are below 2.00 - breezed through the eighth and Bell, a former Met, tore through the ninth for his 17th save, second in the NL.
"Once you get behind, it's an uphill battle to get back in it," said David Wright, whose strikeout against Gregerson snapped an 18-at-bat streak without one, his longest of the season. "They have a bunch of different looks from their bullpen, a bunch of different arm slots, different pitches. It's just tough to come back."
Said Jason Bay: "It's by far the best staff we've seen this year."
