Andrew Painter struggles, but battles, in road debut: ‘Just one of those nights’

SAN FRANCISCO — Andrew Painter went to the visitors’ clubhouse after his road debut on Monday in San Francisco, did his postgame routine, emerged in the dugout again and watched the rest of the game from there. Departed starters don’t always do that.

Painter wanted to support his teammates in their comeback effort. Perhaps it turned superstitious. They started scoring, and holding, so he stayed. 

“Super happy that everyone could pick me up,” Painter said after the game. 

What the Phillies’ offense — and their bullpen, which Painter also praised — picked up was a rocky first road start in the majors. Painter conceded four runs on nine hits against the Giants, walking one and striking out just one in four innings.

“Fell behind a lot,” Painter said. “It’s tough to pitch like that. Dug myself in a hole. There was never really a moment where I was in the driver’s seat. Lot of 2-0 counts. Just working from behind, it’s hard to pitch like that.”

Painter threw first-pitch strikes to just 11 of the 21 batters he faced. In the third and fourth innings, which together saw all of the four runs he allowed, it was five of 12.

Ironically enough, that 11-for-21 rate was the same as in his debut against the Nationals, a stellar 5 1/3 inning, eight-strikeout performance.

“The difference between this game and the last game is that once he got behind in the count, it didn’t seem like he was landing his secondary pitches as well,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said on Monday. “But he battled.”

Battle, he did — especially when Thomson tested him most. After the three-run third, Painter loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Already at 79 pitches, Painter stayed on for Luis Arráez, who lifted a deep sacrifice fly to right before Matt Chapman grounded out to end the threat and keep the damage to a minimum. 

It ended up being a difference-maker. The Phillies’ bullpen proceeded to throw five scoreless, relatively stress-free innings as part of a series-opening comeback win.

Partially due to the gameplan against a righty-heavy lineup, but perhaps partially the paucity of pitcher’s counts, Painter relied heavily on fastballs against the Giants. He threw 58 fastballs to 32 offspeed, compared to 40 and 44, respectively, against the Nationals.

He generated four whiffs on 44 swings. It was nine of 39 last start, albeit against an inferior lineup. There was one hard-hit ball in his MLB debut, and it happened on his 84th and final pitch. There were eight on Monday.

There were promising signs anyway. He got himself back into many of those once 2-0 counts. Painter pointed to the lone walk, despite them, as a takeaway — before a qualifier. 

“I need to make those pitches earlier,” he said.

This kind of night from time to time is to be expected from Painter in his rookie year. For two more full days, he’s 22 years old. He’ll then be 23. Monday was not his best, but not a disaster. The Phillies won. 

“Just one of those nights,” he said.