Padres News: Derek Norris and Shawn Kelley Hurt Tuesday

All was going well for the San Diego Padres in Tuesday night’s game against the Texas Rangers. Then came the 7th inning with the score tied 4-4 and the Padres knowing that with a victory they would gain ground on either the Giants or Dodgers who were playing each other.

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When the dust had settled catcher Derek Norris and pitcher Shawn Kelley were injured, the fans watched the Rangers Elvis Andrus steal home and the score was 8-4 in favor of the Rangers. How did that happen?

Marc Rzepcynski started things out for the Padres in the 7th retiring the first two hitters he faced including a ground-out that the Rangers challenged but the call on the field was upheld. So far so good. Then Prince Fielder singled to right field and the reliable Kelley was brought in to finish out the inning. Kelley promptly gave up a single to Adrian Beltre to put runners on first and second.

Yet things continued to spiral from there. A wild pitch moved Fielder and Beltre to third – and those are two men that don’t move easily. Kelley then opted to intentionally walk Odor to put a force at any base. Good plan – but they don’t always come to fruition. Elvis Andrus then singled to right and Kemp fired a laser to home to nail Beltre trying to score from second. As Beltre slid into home he hit Norris in the left arm, causing the ball to fly loose and the runners kept coming. Odor came all the way from first and Andrus advanced to third on the wild play.

Norris was diagnosed with a hyper-extended elbow and shoulder after the game theough he also had pain in his forearm. As Beth Maiman of MLB.com reported, Norris had this to say about the injury:

"“Definitely wasn’t a pleasant feeling by any means, but definitely could’ve been worse,” Norris said. “Definitely fortunate that it’s just a muscular strain, just a little bit of a hyperextension, nothing else. Once again, we’ll see if it feels better tomorrow.”"

Then after Austin Hedges replaced him, Shawn Kelley threw one warm-up pitch after the delay and immediately left the mound for the clubhouse. It is unknown his injury extent but with Tommy John Surgeries in his history – arm injuries are never to be taken lightly. Kelley is optimistic that it is just a forearm injury and not an elbow injury.

To cap off the inning for good measure, Elvis Andrus stole hom off of Kevin Quackenbush who came in to replace Kelley. Finally Will Venable obliged the crowd and grounded out to end the merciless inning.

The Padres mounted a comeback in the bottom of the 9th but it fell short and they lost the game 8-6. Series finale tonight before a huge four game set against the Dodgers this weekend.

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