This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The San Diego Padres lost their first series in over a month on Sunday and may have lost their shortstop to boot.
When San Diego opens a three-game series against the visiting Minnesota Twins on Monday night, Ha-Seong Kim will likely be on the bench nursing a shoulder injury that he suffered during Sunday’s 3-2 loss against the Colorado Rockies.
Kim jammed his right shoulder while diving back to first on a pickoff attempt in the third inning and was taken out of the game. Padres manager Mike Shildt said after the setback that Kim would be further examined on Monday.
“He’s dealing with something that’s going to require some time,” Shildt said. “How much, we’ll know (Monday).”
If Kim, who is batting .233 with 11 homers, 47 RBIs and a team-leading 22 stolen bases, requires a trip to the injured list, the Padres could slide Xander Bogaerts or Manny Machado over to short. Bogaerts has been a shortstop for most of his major league career, and Machado has played the position at times with San Diego, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles.
Even though the National League-worst Rockies took two games in a three-game series with the Padres over the weekend, San Diego still sits atop the NL wild-card race, one game above the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Padres are also sitting in second in the NL West, three games behind the Dodgers.
Michael King (10-6, 3.19 ERA) will take the mound for San Diego in Monday’s series opener. The right-hander is coming off a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, logging six scoreless innings against them last Tuesday. King scattered seven hits, didn’t issue a walk and struck out 10.
In three career appearances (one start) against Minnesota, King has never factored into a decision while posting a 2.45 ERA.
The Twins missed out on a chance to capture a four-game series sweep against the Texas Rangers on Sunday, blowing a 4-0, seventh-inning lead in a 6-5, 10-inning loss.
A throwing error by Minnesota third baseman Jose Miranda allowed Texas to push across the winning run.
Despite the outcome, the Twins are hanging on to the American League’s second wild card, 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees and Orioles. They are also just two games back of the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
“We’re in every game,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’re going to continue to be in every game.”
Rookie right-hander Zebby Matthews (1-0, 3.60) will make his second big-league start on Monday. Matthews got a win in his major league debut last Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings against the Kansas City Royals.
Prior to Sunday’s loss, Minnesota was a season-high 17 games over .500. It is 11-6 this month and will begin a nine-game homestand following the series with the Padres.
“All the way through, we never give up,” Twins utility man Willi Castro said following Minnesota’s 5-2 win over the Rangers on Saturday. “We never give up.”
–Field Level Media
