SAN DIEGO _ The Padres' trend of painfully short starts took on a literal meaning in Wednesday's 7-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox. Right-hander Jarred Cosart walked off the field and out of the game under his own power, but gingerly and at least a few innings before he would've liked. He was later diagnosed with a two-part injury _ a strained right hamstring and a strained right groin _ suffered in an attempt to cover first base.
Reacting to a soft grounder in the top of the fourth, Cosart rushed off the mound as first baseman Wil Myers moved to field the ball. With Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr. jetting down the line, Myers attempted an underhand flip in Cosart's direction. The relay arrived a bit high. Cosart leapt to retrieve it, extending his right leg behind him as he came back down.
Cosart landed awkwardly, his right foot narrowly missing the first-base bag. He began to limp. He attempted to walk it off. Soon, however, he was popped on the infield dirt, being tended to by team trainer Mark Rogow.
After a little while, Cosart stood and walked slowly toward the mound, hoping to throw a few warmup pitches. He stopped short of the mound, still in visible discomfort. Padres manager Andy Green signaled to the bullpen. Cosart made his exit.
For the Padres, the game continued to unravel. Carlos Villanueva, who replaced Cosart, allowed a single to the first batter he faced. The next singled, too, scoring a run and breaking a 2-2 tie. After a double-steal, Dustin Pedroia laced a two-run double.
A night earlier, another Padres starter departed all too early. Paul Clemens threw three scoreless innings before his velocity dipped in the fourth. The Red Sox smacked back-to-back home runs off the right-hander. He returned to the mound for the fifth but was pulled before he could record another out. Afterward, Clemens attributed his fourth-inning drop-off to a mental stumble.
As disheartening as that kind of performance was, it has not been uncommon this season. The Padres, in reset mode at the big-league level, long ago lost their entire Opening-Day rotation due to either trade or injury. The current bunch consists of a rookie and five pitchers who were discarded by their former teams.
With the exception of Luis Perdomo, the aforementioned rookie, Cosart has more upside than the rest. But 26-year-old, once a well-regarded prospect, has dealt with blisters and inconsistency this season. Wednesday brought another instance; in the second, Cosart missed with a first-pitch fastball. Travis Shaw hammered a two-run homer 425 feet to right.
That erased a 1-0 lead for the Padres, who received consecutive two-out hits from Myers and Yangervis Solarte in the first. Cosart led off the bottom of the third with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Myers, but the pitcher's next on-field adventure ended with him crumbling to the ground.
Cosart went 3 1/3 innings and allowed three runs, two earned. Villanueva was tagged with two runs over 1 2/3 innings.
After two scoreless frames for Kevin Quackenbush, Padres right-hander Jake Smith, recalled earlier in the day, made his big-league debut in the eighth. Hanley Ramirez welcomed him with a solo home run. Brock Holt homered off Leonel Campos in the top of the ninth.
The Padres, who fell to 57-82, do not appear to have a replacement for Cosart on their 40-man roster. In that sense, they are fortunate the season is nearly complete; expanded Septembers rosters have allowed for deeper bullpens.
