Reynolds allows four runs in debut

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Reynolds allows four runs in debut
05/11/2008 9:40 PM ET
By Mike Scarr / MLB.com

SAN DIEGO -- Greg Reynolds took the mound Sunday in his Major League debut, but those assembled on Mother's Day at PETCO Park didn't note even a hint of nerves.
With about 25 family members in attendance, Reynolds took the ball and confidently put the Padres on notice that he was going to throw strikes, locate and challenge hitters.
Unfortunately for the 21-year-old, who was drafted just two years ago out of Stanford University, the Rockies were unable to solve his counterpart and the club went down to a 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Padres.
Their second straight loss here also prevented the Rockies from capturing the series, and now they'll head to Arizona to face a first-place Diamondbacks club that has already won five of six over Colorado this year.
But Reynolds impressed the right people.
"I thought it was a pretty good first effort," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I thought he handled it very professionally. I saw some good things."
The key hits were a pair of home runs -- a solo shot by Scott Hairston in the fifth and a two-run blast from Khalil Greene in the sixth. Reynolds also allowed an RBI double to Adrian Gonzalez in the sixth, but the young right-hander was routinely in the zone.
Reynolds was equally calm after the game.
"This was a great moment for me," said Reynolds, the second overall selection in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. "I wasn't too worried about anybody but myself. I tried to stay within myself and my game plan. I tried to pitch to my strengths and get ahead of hitters."
Reynolds threw his first Major League pitch for a strike when home-plate umpire CB Bucknor ruled his offering to Jody Gerut in the bottom of the first in the zone. He followed that by inducing Tadahito Iguchi into hitting a ground ball. Brian Giles then singled, but center fielder Willy Taveras bailed out Reynolds by running down Gonzalez's drive on the warning track to end the inning.
Reynolds then was able to retire 10 of the next 12 batters, with Luke Carlin on a third-inning leadoff walk and Kevin Kouzmanoff on a two-out single in the fourth being the only runners to reach base.
Hairston's homer led off the fifth, but Reynolds recovered to retire the side. Reynolds ran into trouble in the sixth, though, as Iguchi beat out an infield single and Gonzalez hit a one-out rope into the right-field corner to score Iguchi.
Reynolds fanned Kouzmanoff, but Greene drilled a 1-0 pitch into the left-center seats for a 3-0 lead. Hairston followed with a walk and Reynolds' day was done after going 5 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out one.
"He has pretty good composure. This is obviously the biggest moment for him and this is what he's been dreaming of since he was a kid," Hurdle said. "Bottom line, he went out and he performed. He made some pitches. That sixth inning was a learning curve, but he got a taste of it and I'm encouraged by his time out."
Reynolds, who was 1-2 at Triple-A Colorado Springs this season, went just two innings in his last start, but said lack of work was not a problem.
"I had enough adrenaline going that I could have gone all night, so I didn't think too much about it," Reynolds said.
The bigger problem for the Rockies was the offense, which was unable to support a solid pitching performance for the second straight game.
Padres starter Chris Young handled the Rockies for six-plus innings, allowing a run on five hits and a pair of walks. He also struck out seven, including five in a row at one point that was part of a string of 13 straight outs made by the Rockies.
Their big missed opportunity came in the top of the seventh, when they loaded the bases on Young with a pair of singles and a walk, but Padres reliever Cla Meredith induced a double-play ground ball from Chris Iannetta that produced a run and Clint Barmes struck out to end the inning.
The Rockies managed just one baserunner the rest of the way, on a ninth-inning walk by Todd Helton.
"You get the bases loaded and you're trying to do something," Hurdle said. "I've done it. It is not something you're looking for but sometimes the pitcher puts just enough on it and that is what ends the inning. The big hit in the gap would have made the difference, but we didn't get that."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.