Tom Krasovic: Padres’ bullpen pulls no punches in win over Giants

A good sign for the Padres beyond their 8-4 victory Thursday was how manager Mike Shildt used his bullpen with his team up four runs against a subpar Giants offense.

Shildt deployed only high-leverage arms over the final four innings.

This was a public show of good late-season health among four key pitchers.

If any of the four among Jeremiah Estrada, Adrián Morejón, Mason Miller and Robert Suarez had needed even a slight breather, Shildt surely would have held out that pitcher.

He could’ve enlisted other relievers capable of denying the Giants a comeback victory after starting pitcher Dylan Cease had allowed two runs with none out in the sixth inning, making it 8-4.

The four relievers responded with scoreless work that kept the Padres one game behind the National League West-leading Dodgers.

So 128 games into the journey, with 34 contests left in the regular season and up to 22 games a possibility in the World Series tournament, the Padres retain a full-strength bullpen, unless there’s an injury that’s been kept secret.

Elsewhere among playoff contenders, relievers have been breaking down.

The Dodgers have been without closer Tanner Scott and setup reliever Kirby Yates for several weeks, although both could return this weekend. L.A. standout Evan Phillips suffered a season-ending elbow injury.

Astros closer Josh Hader’s shoulder injury, suffered last week, led Houston to sign former closer Craig Kimbrel, who was pitching in the minor leagues, in a move MLB.com reported Sunday.

The Padres, meantime, displayed a pair of healthy, above-average closers Thursday in Suarez and Miller. After Estrada averaged 98.3 mph with his fastball, Morejón paced at 97.3.

The excellent health of San Diego’s bullpen is an achievement, not just a matter of good luck. A lot goes into maintaining the health of pitchers whose arms bear extreme stress loads, over and over, beginning in March.

“Our guys are really efficient with their pitches,” Shildt said, listing the first of several factors.

Shilidt graded his relievers and support staff as “A++” at pursuing optimal physical recovery after throwing in games or on the side.

The manager and his coaches seem to have done their part to account for myriad variables relating to health, warmups and game situations.

In turn, Shildt said a crucial level of trust has been established. Players are honest in their health updates, he said, allowing Shildt and his coaches to game out the bullpen puzzle with greater confidence.

“Ultimately it falls on me to be clear where they could show up in games,” Shildt said. “So when that phone rings relative to score and situation and where we’re at in our lineup, they almost always know and anticipate really even before the phone rings they can start to get their body loose…That adds up.

“So,” he said, “it’s all incremental things that go in our favor.”

The Padres’ bullpen is MLB’s best, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after his team’s recent series in the East Village. Several statistics support Cora’s claim.

An under-appreciated factor to the relief corps’ status: Rare health and durability across the season.

Seamhead stuff

Miller’s performance Thursday gave hitters something to consider in future matchups. En route to retiring the two hitters he faced, the right-hander threw five sliders and no fastballs. On the season, fastballs had accounted for 54.3% of his pitches.

Sunday against the Dodgers, Suarez lacked his hot fastball at the outset. His third pitch was a 96.5-mph fastball that Mookie Betts hit for a tie-breaking home run, leading to L.A.’s clinching win of a three-game sweep. The home run pitch was 1.5-mph below Suarez’s average. Thursday, Suarez’s third pitch was 97.8 mph.