Dodgers NLDS: Padres Lose Ace Mike Clevinger After One Inning
After days of back of forth, the San Diego Padres felt comfortable enough with the progress of injured ace Mike Clevinger to activate him for the NLDS against the Dodgers. Despite all the pomp and circumstance of the addition, the right-hander was lost after only one inning in game 1.
Padres starter Mike Clevinger leaves today's game early. He walked off the mound with a trainer after his velocity dropped in the 2nd inning. pic.twitter.com/x7Ix3q1N1E
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 7, 2020
After tossing a 22-pitch first inning, Clevinger sat for a while between innings as Dodgers starter Walker Buehler faced struggles of his own. After 2 pitches in the second frame — one of them registering 5 miles-per-hour slower than in the first inning — the training staff and manager Jayce Tingler came out to check on Clevinger and that was all she wrote.
Mike Clevinger's return lasted 24 pitches. His first pitch of the second inning was a 91-mph fastball — 5 mph off his top-end first-inning velocity. His second was a 77-mph slider. That was enough for the Padres. He's out with an injury — presumably to his already-hurt elbow.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 7, 2020
Tingler revealed during the FS1 broadcast that the long layoff between innings was the culprit.
I think what happened was that long half-inning there and it tightened up and never warmed back up on him.
In all likelihood, the Padres have lost their ace for the rest of the series and potentially the rest of October, if they should happen to advance onto the NLCS.
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