Padres newcomer Chris Young has been a dependable pitcher, turning in only one clunker in 10 starts. The clunker came last night, and the Braves took advantage for a 10-6 win at Petco Park that was last-place San Diego's seventh defeat in nine games.
Young allowed six runs in three innings, his shortest outing this season. After trailing 6-1 and 10-4, the Padres (24-23) didn't have the home run power to avert their third consecutive series loss.
“I didn't do my job and it cost us the game,” said Young, whose ERA rose from 3.58 to 4.32.
NELVIN C. CEPEDA / Union-Tribune
Padres left fielder Dave Roberts makes a dive but can't catch a low liner off the bat of Atlanta's Marcus Giles.
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Young gave up three home runs, two by Andruw Jones, all three on misplaced fastballs to an opponent that manager Bruce Bochy described as an “aggressive, good fastball-hitting club.”
The 26-year-old right-hander, who shut out the Braves for seven innings last year, said his inaccuracy was “very correctable” and spoke of regaining good form.
“It's nothing physical, and I don't feel like it's mechanical,” said Young, who has recovered from a circulatory problem that was causing his right thumb to get cold. “It's something that I think can be fixed. I've pitched well for the most part. I had a rough one, but those are going to happen.
“It's just being able to minimize the damage – which I didn't do – but I'll be ready for my next start.”
At Petco, where the Padres have hit 13 home runs in 25 games, Young has given up eight homers in 25 2/3 innings. Overall he has allowed a National League-high 13 home runs, but for the most part, it's been more nuisance than problem.
Last night, however, Andruw Jones became the first to reach Young for a home run with a man on base. The cleanup man homered with Chipper Jones aboard in the first and again in the third.
Padres center fielder Mike Cameron said he should've gloved the second one, which hit atop the 7-foot, 6-inch wall in center field. Jumping too late, Cameron hit the wall but was unable to get his glove up high for the 397-foot drive, clinching Jones' 11th home run.
NELVIN C. CEPEDA / Union-Tribune
Padres catcher Mike Piazza holds the ball after Atlanta scores another run to make the score 7-2.
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“I should have jumped straight up,” Cameron said. “I had a good bead on it and I thought I should have caught it, but I didn't make the play. I might get it next time.”
Padres hitters would settle for a few one-hoppers off the wall. An offense that is ranked 15th of 16 in the NL in home runs got nine singles and a double, good enough to pester a vulnerable John Thomson (2-3) and two relievers, but nothing like the power that Atlanta displayed in winning both series from San Diego.
“When you get that far down, it's a hard mountain to climb,” Bochy said.
Young's struggles began when he threw a belt-high fastball to Edgar Renteria with one out in the first. Renteria hit a high, slicing shot, estimated at 332 feet, that landed in the “Home Run Porch” for his second home run.
Chipper Jones followed with a line single – his first of four singles – and Andruw Jones drove a 387-foot homer into the left-field seats on a full-count pitch. The three homers allowed marked the second consecutive game that Young gave up three homers in his first three innings.
The Padres, who twice got a run-scoring single from Brian Giles with two out, got to 7-4 with two runs in the fourth. But Jim Brower gave up three runs in the sixth, which seemed to revive Thomson and deflate the Padres, who were dispatched in the sixth and seventh on just 10 pitches total. A journeyman who was cut by the Orioles on May 3, Brower has allowed at least a run in three of four games since the Padres signed him.
Mike Piazza's one-out single, which scored Cameron, ousted Thomson in the eighth. It wasn't an easy night for Young or catcher Piazza; getting good jumps and challenging Piazza, the Braves were 4-for-4 on stolen-base attempts. Chipper Jones had two of them, giving him his second career game with two stolen bases and four hits.
Tom Krasovic: (619) 293-2207; tom.krasovic@uniontrib.com
