JAY PARIS
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Brewers manager Ron Roenicke was not happy, to say the least.
San Diego’s Rene Rivera tied the game with a home run in the ninth inning, then won it with an RBI single in the 10th as the Padres beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 Wednesday night.
Roenicke wasn’t around to watch the end of the game, tossed by home plate umpire Mark Ripperger moments after Rivera’s home run.
Roenicke’s beef was that the first two pitches of Rivera’s at-bat were incorrectly called balls before he homered.
“That’s the same umpire that we’ve had before and he is terrible behind home plate,” Roenicke said. “He calls pitches that aren’t even close. The catcher sets up 6 inches off the plate and he calls them strikes.
“I should have been kicked out the last time we saw him. I’m tired of sitting here and watching the catchers set up off the plate and he calls it a strike and they’re balls. Then Frankie (Rodriguez) misses this much off the plate (holds fingers 6 inches apart), he calls it a ball. Just call the same pitches the same way all night.”
Rivera opened the ninth inning with his ninth homer, a shot off Rodriguez, to tie the score 2-2.
In the 10th, Seth Smith walked and Yasmani Grandal singled to start the inning against Zach Duke (4-1). Smith was thrown out at third on a fielder’s choice and, one out later, Rivera singled to center to drive in Grandal from second.
“It’s always tough to lose one late,” Roenicke said. “We had a one-run lead in the ninth and we feel great with Frankie out there.”
Dale Thayer (4-3) pitched the 10th for the victory.
The Brewers took a 2-0 led in the seventh inning. Lyle Overbay opened with a single and Elian Herrera doubled down the first-base line. Right fielder Will Venable fielded the ball cleanly, but he one-hopped his throw to Jedd Gyorko, who made an off-balanced relay that Overbay just beat at home.
Herrera moved to third on the play and scored on passed ball.
Jake Goebbert’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning pulled the Padres to 2-1.
Both starters were efficient. Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo gave up three hits and three walks in six scoreless innings.
The Padres’ Odrisamer Despaigne gave up two runs and six hits with a career-high nine strikeouts in seven innings.
“He was rolling because the umpire was giving him 6 inches off the plate,” Roenicke said.
Because Ripperger is a Triple-A call-up, crew chief Ted Barrett fielded a pool reporter’s questions. He said Ripperger would receive a report as early as Thursday as part of Major League Baseball’s Zone Evaluation system.
“We’ll go over that and evaluate it and see if there were pitches missed,” Barrett said. “If there were, we’ll figure out how we can get them right, (perhaps) adjust our stance. We’ll see what we’re getting right, what we’re getting wrong. Without seeing it, I have no idea standing at first base.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: 1B Yonder Alonso will undergo season-ending surgery on Friday to repair a torn tendon in his right forearm. … SS Everth Cabrera (strained left hamstring) continues to increase his pregame work and could be sent out on a rehabilitation assignment this weekend.
Brewers: RHP Matt Garza (strained left oblique) felt fine after Tuesday’s bullpen session and will pitch in a simulated game on Friday. Depending on how that goes, he could join the rotation for the Cubs series which starts on Monday.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Wily Peralta (15-8, 3.56 ERA) faces Giants RHP Ryan Vogelsong (7-9, 3.78) when Milwaukee opens a three-game series in San Francisco on Friday. Peralta is 2-0 in three career starts against the Giants.
Padres: RHP Andrew Cashner (2-6, 2.43) goes against Dodgers RHP Dan Haren (11-10, 4.44). Cashner is making his second appearance since coming off the DL with a sore right shoulder.
NO 40 FOR NO. 57
Brewers reliever Francisco Rodriguez blew his fifth save in 44 chances, keeping him at 39 saves on the season. Rodriguez has reached 40 saves four times in his career. He did record one strikeout, the 1,000th of his career.
THIS BUD’S NOT FOR YOU
After the Padres christened an area of Petco Park the Selig Hall of Fame Plaza, in honor of retiring baseball commissioner Bud Selig, the community reaction was overwhelming negative. Many Padres fans associate Selig with contributing to the upheaval in the front office, when he gave his blessing in 2009 to Jeff Moorad purchasing the club on a layaway plan that never materialized.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
