Casey Mize gave up a homer on the first pitch he threw. Before the first inning was over, San Diego was already down three. By the time he left in the fourth, he'd been charged with seven runs on seven hits and two walks, one of three Arizona home runs on the night, and the Diamondbacks were on their way to an 11-4 win that kept their own wild-card hopes breathing.
There's a version of this week where players showed up dragging after a franchise-record third straight postseason berth got locked up. That's the whisper going around. Nobody has put a name or a source to it, and I'm not going to pretend it's confirmed just because it's a satisfying explanation. What is confirmed is Mize's line, and that line doesn't need help from a rumor to look ugly.
San Diego actually out-hit Arizona in this game, nine hits to eight. They lost by seven runs anyway. The lineup did its job. The problem was a starter who turned four innings into a track meet and left the bullpen with a hole it couldn't climb out of. The loss came from the mound, from the guy who was supposed to be a trade-deadline luxury.
This has been going on for two months. Mize came over from Detroit with a 2.70 ERA and looked like a steal. In ten starts since, he's carried a 7.46 ERA and allowed 13 home runs over 44.2 innings. A pitcher can survive one disaster start. He can't survive a two-month pattern of them and still expect a spot on a postseason roster with real stakes attached.
Maybe a fully rested, stone-sober Mize still doesn't beat this Arizona lineup on this night. Nobody's arguing he'd have thrown a shutout. The Padres have two months of evidence telling them exactly who he is right now, and Friday was just the loudest confirmation of it. Giving him a playoff assignment after this is denial.
Meanwhile Jase Bowen spent the last two innings robbing two separate home runs, one in center field and one ranging into left-center, while his rotation handed runs away by the bucket. That's the kind of night that should get a guy a longer look in October. Bowen made the case for himself and Mize made the case against himself in the same game, on the same field, an hour apart.
San Diego has already clinched. The only question left is who they trust with the ball when it actually matters. After Friday, the answer shouldn't include Casey Mize. If the front office puts him out there anyway, that's on them.
