It wasn’t pretty, but it won’t always be pretty, and with the distraction of his appeal uncertainty hanging around Joe Kelly, he resorted to some unusual means to get things done last night in the seventh in San Diego.
After making the wise decision to start the inning by walking Fernando Tatís Jr., Kelly induced a routine groundball from Trent Grisham that turned into a single. Tatís made it to third, but Grisham was out at second trying to stretch the base hit into a double. Messy, but effective.
Next up?
Manny Machado.
And things got a bit wilder.
On a 1-1 count, Machado hit a floater to Joc Pederson in right. Pederson caught it, but Tatís took a while to tag. Pederson, perhaps not realizing how much time he had, airmailed the throw home, where who was waiting behind the plate? Well, Joe Kelly, of course.
Fundamentals will get you outs, and they did this time, with our hero turning the errant throw into a double play after a brief rundown.
The top of the Padres order? Vanquished. Joe Kelly’s ERA? Still spotless. Now, we continue our wait for word on by how much his suspension will be shortened.
Rock on, Joe.
