Padres lose to Giants after Fernando Tatis Jr. leaves with shoulder injury

The Padres saw glimpses of the Adrian Morejón they believed was coming.

Unfortunately for them, what overshadowed anything else that could happen Monday night at Petco Park was they saw Fernando Tatis Jr. going.

Tatis exited the game against the San Francisco Giants in the third inning with a partially dislocated left shoulder.

The Giants hit three solo home runs to beat the Padres 3-2. It was not even close to the most painful loss of the night.

Dr. David Chao, an orthopedic surgeon who correctly identified the injury hours before the Padres announced a shoulder subluxation, said Tatis will likely require arthroscopic surgery for a labral tear. Chao, who served as the Chargers team doctor for almost 20 years, said it is possible Tatis could continue to play and put off surgery if the tear was not made worse Monday. Surgery would end his season, as it generally requires a six-month recovery.

After a violent swing on a strikeout, Tatis immediately crumpled to the ground in front of the plate and stayed there for a full minute, on his knees with his head bowed almost to the dirt as he winced in pain.

The burgeoning superstar, who signed a 14-year, $340 million contract before spring training, was eventually helped to his feet and walked off the field with manager Jayce Tingler and an athletic trainer holding his left arm in place.

“Right now he’s feeling better from, obviously, he was in quite a bit of pain coming out of the game,” Tingler said after the game. “I don’t have a lot of information except the fact they’re going to do more tests and evaluation tomorrow and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Tatis is expected to get an MRI Tuesday.

×

Tatis has dealt with the balky shoulder since he was in the minor leagues and twice this spring sat out for a period after hurting the shoulder. Sources have described what happens as the shoulder popping out and then back in when Tatis does certain movements. Chao said the reoccurrence of the injury in such a short period indicates it is becoming easier to dislocate and portends ongoing issues even if Tatis continues to play.

“It’s nothing I feel people should be worrying about or be concerned of,” Tatis said the day before the season opener. “I feel in a great spot and I feel 100 percent.”

Tatis was 0-for-2 Monday and is 3-for-18 this season. He entered the season with a .301 batting average and .956 OPS and on Sunday hit the 40th home run of his career.

“Maybe it’s been bothering him more than we realized,” Tingler said Monday night.

Rookie Ha-seong Kim replaced Tatis at shortstop.

If not for Tatis going down, the Padres could have relished Morejón’s performance a bit more.

It was only the fact his spot came up in the lineup with the tying run on second base in the fourth inning that prevented Morejón from adding to his career highs in innings and pitches.

The 22-year-old, who had never gone longer than three innings or thrown more than 46 pitches in a major league game, allowed homers to Darin Ruf in the second inning and Evan Longoria in the fourth.

Morejón, signed at 17 out of Cuba for a team-record signing bonus of $11 million, was lifted for a pinch-hitter with two on and two out in the bottom of the fourth. He threw 64 pitches, 18 more than he had thrown in any of his previous 14 career games.

He hit 99 mph in the first inning and was still reaching 97 mph in the fourth, and he also got outs with four other pitches.

Before the left-hander made his first real start, after previously pitching out of the bullpen and as an opener, Tingler said, “Adrian has the potential to be not only a good starter, he’s got the potential to be a great starter. We’re a ways away from that.”

Hitting for Morejon with runners at first and second, Tucupita Marcano grounded the first pitch he saw to first base to end the inning.

The Padres tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the second when Jurickson Profar reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and scored on Victor Caratini’s single. Profar and Caratini teamed up for another run to tie the game 2-2 in the sixth inning, this time with a triple by Profar and sacrifice fly by Caratini.

Nabil Crismatt pitched a scoreless fifth and Craig Stammen did the same in the sixth.

Stammen struck out Brandon Crawford for the first out of the seventh before Mike Yastrzemski came to the plate. He had been scratched from the starting lineup with left hand soreness, which seemed a break for the Padres in that he had a 1.229 career OPS against the Padres.

Yastrzemski slammed a 2-0 sinker over the wall in center field for his fifth home run in 69 plate appearances against the Padres.

(Box score.)