Vicente Padilla: From bullpen abuser to rescuer

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Pitch counts high, innings short, arms weary.

The Dodgers were in desperate need of Friday starter to pitch deep into the game to give an overused and maligned bullpen a much needed break.

Into the void stepped their biggest offender.

Vicente Padilla had been a humongous bust in his first two starts. Couldn’t last more than 4 1/3 innings in either. Two Dodger defeats. Two head-scratching performances.

And then he went out Friday against the division-leading Giants and was unhittable through four innings. He was throwing strikes, in command, looking almost reborn from his previous two outings.

``I thought Vicente was terrific,’’ said Manager Joe Torre. ``He just had that one lull in the middle.’’

That would have been the fifth, when he allowed two runs on three hits, and then in the sixth, when he allowed a leadoff home run to Pablo Sandoval.

Then Padilla retired the next six consecutive Giants. His night’s final numbers: seven innings, three runs on four hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 107 pitches, 67 for strikes.

‘You have to give a lot of credit to Vicente,’ said Andre Ethier. ‘He really established the momentum and kept them off the board and gave our offense a chance to get going.’

The Dodgers jumped out to 7-0 lead on two home runs by Ethier, one his first career grand slam, and a homer by Matt Kemp.

‘The big lead made me more comfortable,’ Padilla said.

When Kemp came to bat again in the second inning, right-hander Todd Wellemeyer sailed a pitch at his head that sent him sprawling but did not hit him.

‘That’s baseball,’ Kemp said. ‘Maybe it just got away from him.’

Padilla had a reputation as a head-hunter while he was with the Texas Rangers, angering several teammates and helping to hasten his release.

In the fifth, an inside Padilla pitch hit Giants leadoff hitter Aaron Rowand in the head, appearing to catch the edge of the helmet near his temple. He left the game and was taken to the hospital for X-rays.
The Giants said he suffered a mild concussion and small fractures around his left cheek.

Padilla said there was no way he was searching for payback.

‘I threw inside and the pitch ran in on him,’ Padilla said. ‘He was right on the plate. With that kind of lead, there was no reason for me to start a conflict.’

There was great reason for the Dodgers to get a deep performance from their starting pitcher. On this night, the culprit turned rescuer.

-- Steve Dilbeck