NewsLeBlanc's woes lead to loss, demotion
Starter lasts just 1 1/3 innings as Friars fall to Mariners
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
06/25/09 9:16 PM ET
SEATTLE -- They have plunged this far before, nine games under .500, though the latest loss by the Padres on Thursday to the Mariners had a much more distinct and resounding bottoming-out feel to it.
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Starting pitcher Wade LeBlanc, already in a tenuous position in the rotation, didn't make it out of the second inning, leaving the Padres in a four-run hole before one turn through the lineup in what would become a 9-3 loss to the Mariners at Safeco Field.
The Padres' official response?
San Diego optioned LeBlanc to Triple-A Portland following the game, a swift and decisive move following a performance that not even LeBlanc cared to rehash following the game.
The message: Starts like these won't be tolerated.
"Starting pitching is such a critical part of the Major League team," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Every night, you want to give your team the best chance at victory. ... That starts with the starting pitching."
LeBlanc surrendered a leadoff home run to Ichiro Suzuki, who collected four hits and finished a triple short of the cycle, walked two and allowed four runs. In two starts this season, spanning 4 1/3 innings, LeBlanc has allowed seven earned runs.
"Every start has been a tough start," LeBlanc said. "I've got to give these guys a chance to win. I've got to go down [to Portland] and figure out how to do it."
The Padres (31-40), now nine games under .500 for the first time since May 14, will add reliever Luis Perdomo to their bullpen before the start of Friday's game in Texas against the Rangers.
Josh Banks, who allowed two runs in 3 1/3 innings on Thursday, will likely get the start when LeBlanc's turn in the rotation comes around again on Tuesday against the Astros.
"The times we've seen Wade -- last spring, last September, this spring, these two starts -- he has shown some flashes of the pitching we've seen in the Minor Leagues," Black said. "Have we seen it to the point where he can have success? Probably not."
LeBlanc's afternoon came unraveled immediately after Ichiro's home run. He gave up two more hits in the inning, to Adrian Beltre and Mike Sweeney, before Seattle catcher Rob Johnson, who entered the game hitting .188, ripped a three-run triple to left-center field for a four-run lead.
LeBlanc allowed a double to Suzuki to start the second inning and then walked Russell Branyan, which brought Black from the dugout to relieve the lefty, a second-round pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.
"I don't know if I'm trying to do too much. I've got to throw strikes. I've been doing it in Triple-A but not up here," LeBlanc said. "I'm just not doing a good job of setting [up my changeup]. Down there [at Portland], I was doing a better job of controlling my fastball."
There weren't a whole lot of highlights for the Padres, who got a two-run home run from Chase Headley, his third right-handed home run this month, and a solo home run from Edgar Gonzalez.
Black said injured pitcher Chris Young, watching from the dugout, counted at least nine of 10 balls that were hit hard by the Padres that were turned into outs. The final indignity came on the last out of the game, when Seattle shortstop Ronny Cedeno made a nice play on a ball up the middle hit by Tony Gwynn, spinning after fielding the ball and making a throw that beat Gwynn by a step.
"It felt like we were swinging it pretty good," Headley said.
Black and center fielder Scott Hairston were ejected in the third inning by home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson after Hairston argued a called third strike, a fastball that appeared to be high and outside.
Black refused to comment on the ejection.
The Padres eventually climbed back into the game, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate before the Mariners (37-35) scored three runs in the eighth inning.
"You never enjoy playing from four runs behind," Headley said. "But it happens. Banks gave us a chance to fight back. I thought we did a good job of continuing to play hard."
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
