Joe Musgrove exits with elbow strain as Padres cruise past Braves
The Padres may have to do it without Joe Musgrove.
Wednesday's win over the Braves punched the Padres ticket to the NLDS against the Dodgers, but Musgrove walking off the mound with a strained right elbow in the fourth inning was sure to overshadow the celebration that followed.
ESPN's broadcast showed Musgrove shaking his right hand at one point in the fourth inning as his velocity dropped.
Musgrove has been on the injured list twice this season with elbow problems from bone spurs.
He returned to the rotation in August after more than two months off and had a 2.15 ERA in nine starts heading into Wednesday's start against the Atlanta Braves. The second ramp-up included more than a month of rest, a PRP injection and a delivery overhaul aimed at taking pressure off the elbow.
“In the past I've been injured and come back and I've tried to do a little bit more with a smaller pitch count,” Musgrove said Tuesday afternoon, “and I didn't get the progression work that I needed because I was. So focused on getting deep into the game and being as efficient as possible that I didn't use my pitches in the fashion I normally would and I didn't prepare them properly.
“I've always been a cross-that-bridge-when-we-get-there kind of guy, even with my rehab.”
Musgrove allowed a run in the first inning — Michael Harris doubled to lead off the second game and scored on a sacrifice fly — but allowed no baserunners after the first, as the Padres piled up four strikeouts in the rally to give him the lead.
He struck out Ozzie Albies to start the fourth in an at-bat that began with a 94 mph four-seamer. The four-seamer hit 92 mph before Marcell Ozuna's groundout. After two mid-70s curves floated into Matt Olson, a pitch that had been clocked at 82 mph earlier in the game, catcher Kyle Higashioka called timeout for a mound inspection.
They were joined by pitching coach Ruben Niebla. Padres manager Mike Shields and athletic trainer Ben Fraser followed.
After a long talk on the mound with the infielders huddled around, Shields patted Musgrove on the “PS” heart of his jersey as he walked off the mound with the glove on his right hand.
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