PHOENIX _ Bryan Mitchell knew it. Everyone knew it.
There was no reason to pretend it was not the way it was.
"He's pitching for future opportunity," Andy Green said before Monday's game against Arizona. "To present it any other way would be misleading. This month is his chance to work his way back into being part of our future plan."
Mitchell _ shockingly to virtually anyone who watched his first seven starts and then five more relief appearances earlier this season _ took a big step toward doing just that in his first start in nearly three months.
And Franmil Reyes, with a display of power that is stunning but at this point also expected, did his part with home runs in his first two at-bats.
Together, they did the bulk of the lifting in the Padres' 6-2 Labor Day victory over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Reyes' three-run homer just right of center field in the second inning gave the Padres a 3-1 lead, and his solo shot just left of center in the fourth inning extended that lead to 4-1.
The 23-year-old rookie right fielder, who reached on an error in the sixth inning before being lifted as part of a double switch, has six home runs in his past 25 at-bats and 15 homers on the season.
In getting his first victory (against three losses) in his first appearance off the disabled list, Mitchell was more efficient and effective than he had been in any of his eight starts.
After allowing a run on two singles, a walk and a wild pitch in the first inning, Mitchell did not allow another hit and retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced.
The 84 pitches he threw included 55 strikes.
His first seven starts, all at the beginning of the season, saw him allow 23 earned runs in just 32 innings.
Green pulled Mitchell after he allowed three runs in 21/3 innings against the Dodgers on May 5, and he was demoted to the bullpen two days later. He made five relief appearances, surrendering 15 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings.
In all through those first 12 appearances, he allowed an average of 2.03 walks and hits per inning, which ranks as highest among the 358 major-league pitchers who have thrown at least 40 innings this season.
Mitchell, who said the elbow impingement that put him on the disabled list June 20 had been bothering him for just a few weeks, returned with a shortened arm stroke on his delivery. He also developed a cutter to add to his mid-90s fastball and curveball during his bullpen sessions and seven rehab starts while on the DL.
After not making anything of having a runner in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, the Padres added two runs in the eighth inning on a walk and three singles. The last of those was Austin Hedges' bases-loaded grounder up the middle that drove in Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers.
Meanwhile, Padres pitchers survived leadoff walks in three straight innings _ Mitchell in the fourth and fifth, Trey Wingenter in the sixth.
Mitchell got out of the fourth by retiring three straight batters and the fifth with a strikeout and double-play grounder.
Wingenter walked Eduardo Escobar and struck out Paul Goldschmidt before being replaced by Jose Castillo, who got an out on a ground ball and a foul pop-up.
Daniel Descalso led off the seventh with a single before Castillo set down the next three batters.
The Diamondbacks got their second run on back-to-back doubles by Escobar and Paul Goldschmidt off Craig Stammen.
Kirby Yates, back from a three-game stay on the bereavement list, pitched a scoreless ninth.
It seems unlikely Mitchell would pitch in what would seemingly be his next turn in the rotation, as the Padres have two days off before then and don't want to give other starters too much rest.
However, what he showed will likely prompt the Padres to at least find a way to get him meaningful innings in the season's final 3{ weeks toward possibly keeping his roster spot going into next spring.
He did what was asked.
"If he gives us a good opportunity to win baseball games when he starts," Green said before the game, "he's going to have a better chance to be part of our future plans."
