San Diego’s Randy Vasquez celebrated the birth of his daughter this past week, and his first chance to pitch again will come in a pennant race in Denver on Saturday night.
Vasquez (3-6, 3.96 ERA) will try to navigate hitter-friendly Coors Field for the Padres (76-65) in the second of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies (40-101).
Colorado will counter with fellow right-hander McCade Brown (0-2, 8.22), a rookie who will make his third career start and second at home.
The Rockies took the first game 3-0 on Friday night behind eight innings of two-hit pitching by Kyle Freeland.
Vasquez was with Triple-A El Paso last week when he got word his wife, Aniana, was going into labor. He flew from Sacramento to San Diego to be with her, and the couple welcomed their daughter.
“I had to get a flight to San Diego on Sunday because there were a little bit of complications with the birth, but everything came out well, and so I stayed in San Diego for about a week,” Vasquez said through an interpreter.
Vasquez has not pitched since Aug. 15 at the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he allowed two runs over 3 2/3 innings and took the loss in a 3-2 Dodgers win.
Vasquez said he is prepared to make his 23rd start and 24th appearance this season as the Padres seek to end a five-game losing streak and improve their NL wild-card position. They currently are tied with the New York Mets for the No. 2 spot.
Said Vasquez: “Even though I’ve been away and haven’t pitched in a while, I feel like I’ve been ready. I’ve been able to sustain myself by going to the gym and throwing bullpens.”
Saturday will be his fifth career start against the Rockies and his second this season. He got the victory May 9 when he allowed two runs over six innings in a 13-9 win. Vasquez is 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA against Colorado.
The Rockies are the only team that has been eliminated from the playoffs, so Colorado has turned to trying to disrupt the postseason seeding. The Padres are the fourth straight team either in a postseason spot or realistically chasing one the Rockies have played, but they are just 3-7 in those games.
Still, interim manager Warren Schaeffer said he has been pleased with his team’s effort in these games.
“We fight until the end,” Schaeffer said. “That’s what these guys show every night, and in the grand scheme of things, that’s the way it’s going to be all of September. These guys are playing in big-time games. We’ve got a lot of good games coming up, and we’re up for the challenge. And I know these guys are for sure.”
Brown, who has never faced San Diego, made his major league debut at Pittsburgh on Aug. 24 and allowed four runs in 3 2/3 innings of a 4-0 loss to the Pirates. He pitched better in his home debut against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 30, but an elevated pitch count (84) ended his outing after four innings. He became the 13th Colorado player to make his big-league debut this season.
–Field Level Media
