CHICAGO — For everything that Adrian Morejon, Mason Miller and Robert Suarez accomplished on Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field — and this was a performance for the ages from the Padres’ bullpen — their most important accomplishment didn’t exactly pertain to Game 2.
In a 3-0 victory, Morejon retired all seven Cubs batters he faced — arguably the most effective relief outing in Padres history. Miller continued breaking records, throwing the hardest postseason pitch on record and becoming the first player to begin his playoff career with eight consecutive strikeouts — arguably the most dominant relief outing in Padres history.
Suarez followed by coolly nailing down the save, becoming the only reliever in Padres history to record multiple playoff saves of at least four outs. Together, the four Padres pitchers, including starter Dylan Cease, combined for a 98.8 mph average fastball velocity — tied with the 2022 Mariners for the highest in a postseason game.
But the most important accomplishment of the three Padres relievers on Wednesday afternoon was this: All three are expected to be available for a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday.
Shildt quickly couched that statement by noting he would “take the temperature” of each reliever to determine just how available they will be — how many outs each might be able to cover. He said he wouldn’t think about doing anything that might put his pitchers’ health at risk.
But, well, the Padres built a super bullpen precisely for moments like this. And now that they’ve gotten here, it sure sounds like they intend to use it.
“We’ve only had two guys go three days in a row all year, and we’ve done it and saved it for these circumstances,” Shildt said. “Obviously, in an elimination game, there’s special circumstances.”
It’s Miller and Morejon who have been ridden the hardest over the first two games. Suarez did not pitch in a Game 1 loss. Miller and Morejon threw an inning apiece in Game 1, then took down 12 of the most important outs during a Game 2 victory.
Both of them are clearly on board with being used on Thursday — and both have been efficient enough to keep themselves available, with Morejon totalling 42 pitches across two games and Miller 40.
For the second consecutive season, Yu Darvish will start a winner-take-all playoff game for San Diego. Even in defeat, he was excellent in Game 5 of the NL Division Series against the Dodgers last October. Darvish has made more playoff starts than any pitcher in Padres history. They trust him implicitly in moments like this one, despite his struggles for most of this season.
But Darvish’s leash will be short. That’s the nature of winner-take-all baseball. Which leaves some serious questions about who might cover the early to middle innings, if Darvish were to get an early hook.
Maybe the Padres would entrust Morejon and Miller with more than three outs. But it’s likelier that both would be limited to an inning apiece. So where else do the Padres find coverage?
This might be the moment they’ve been saving Michael King for. King, of course, was left out of the Padres’ Wild Card Series rotation. He has spent the first two games in the bullpen without hearing his name called.
King spent most of his Yankees tenure pitching in relief before he was traded to the Padres in the Juan Soto deal. He owns a career 3.03 ERA with 200 strikeouts in 172 innings pitching in relief. King almost certainly would have earned a Wild Card Series start had he been able to fully build up from a pair of injuries that kept him out for most of the second half.
Instead, the Padres turned to Cease in Game 2 — and Cease answered the call with the best postseason performance of his career. They’ll turn to Darvish in Game 3 — with King available, alongside Jeremiah Estrada and Wandy Peralta for any additional coverage.
“Look, those are good arms,” said Chicago manager Craig Counsell. “That is what they’ve done to the league all year. Those are tough at-bats, plain and simple.”