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A standing ovation greeted Joe Musgrove as he left the field on Monday night at Petco Park.
He glanced into the stands, tapped his heart twice, and waved briefly before he arrived at the dugout.
The evening had gone well.
For joe Musgrove, about as good as it could get.
Pitching in a big league game for the first time in two and a half months, he was, although in a deliberately limited setting, evocative of his best self.
Joe Musgrove, out since the end of May due to elbow problems, completed 63 pitches in 4⅓ innings without giving up a run. He made every pitch that he had. It was his hardest fastball throw of the season. He hurled blows.
All things considered, the Padres had a successful evening.
They succeeded in making it work immediately as well, defeating the Pirates 2-1 and adding runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Jake Woodford, the Pirates starter who came into the game with a 7.41 ERA after being released by the White Sox in June, was brought out of the game by Jurickson Profar’s double in the seventh inning. Before Profar grounded a ball to right to start the seventh inning and scored on Xander Bogaerts’ single with one out against reliever Kyle Nicolas, the right-hander completed a career-high six innings in only 70 pitches.
The second run was added by a Pirates mistake, a sacrifice fly by Kyle Higashioka, and singles by Bryce Johnson and Ha-Seong Kim.
The extra run was vital because the Pirates scored in the ninth inning against Robert Suarez, and Jackson Merrill, the center fielder, finished with a diving grab to seal his 25th save.
With 42 games left, the Padres and Diamondbacks are tied for the top wild-card slot in the National League. The victory maintained that tie.
The Padres were thrilled to learn on Monday that Musgrove was robust and healthy, but that wasn’t the greatest news.
In the first inning, Musgrove hit a batter with one out, walked a hitter with two outs, then gave up a single with one out in the second.
At 94.8 mph, his 49th pitch of the evening was the quickest he has thrown this season. In the fourth inning, Rowdy Tellez drove the following pitch down the right field line for a double with one out. After tossing 59 pitches, he ended that inning with two groundouts.
The fifth inning began with him coming back out and retiring Bryan De La Cruz on a fly ball before Mike Shildt made his way to the mound to retrieve the ball.
Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing, Jeremiah Estrada, and Suarez each worked one inning to extend the game to the seventh.
The last time Musgrove had started was 77 days ago. Without him, the Padres had not only made it through, but flourished. They still think that in order for them to succeed this season, they need him to go far.
In 2021 and 2022, Musgrove was one of the finest starting pitchers in the National League, finishing 10th in innings pitched (362⅓) and 13th in the majors in ERA (3.06). Due to several injuries, his 2023 season began late and ended early. However, he also had a stellar 12-start run from late May to late July, pitching 73⅓ innings and posting the second-best 1.83 ERA in the majors.
With a 5.66 ERA going into Monday, he has only made 10 starts so far this season. Before needing to be shut down, he only made two starts in May after spending two weeks on the disabled list in April.
Joe Musgrove has admitted due to his elbow:
Although joe Musgrove has admitted that he doesn’t fully understand what is happening with his elbow, there have been bone spurs there for a few years. He said that there was a bone injury and that the reason for his initial hospitalization in intensive care was triceps tendonitis.
He’s changed his delivery to release some of the pressure on his elbow. He claimed that the change is just minor, including his legs being used more and his shoulder being more “closed.”
It would be a huge help for both their expected postseason run and the 18 games in 18 days that start on Friday if he could return to throwing like he did for the previous three seasons.
