Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

SAN DIEGO – For pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery, immediate performance on the mound is far from guaranteed. Cincinnati Reds reliever Blake Wood had the procedure in 2012 and said it took him a year and a half to feel like himself again.

Sunday, it took Homer Bailey about an inning. The 30-year-old right-hander may have had his rehabilitation slowed down after a setback earlier in the year, but he sped right through the process of rounding back into form in his post-surgery debut.

Bailey allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings, helping the Reds to a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. With the victory, the Reds have now won five consecutive series and finished the month of July with a 13-11 record.

Box score

Bailey struck out six against three walks, and ran his fastball up to 95.8 mph. He threw 89 pitches.

“It was just great to see him back out there,” catcher Tucker Barnhart said. “He’s been through a hell of a lot.”

The start was Bailey’s first in the major leagues in 15 months, and the veteran eased into things in the first inning. He gave up a leadoff hit to Travis Jankowski on a grounder into left, and allowed a run when Jankowski stole second and advanced on two groundouts. Bailey gave up two more singles – both softly hit – before escaping the inning.

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Then he locked in. Between the final out of the first and the first out of the sixth, Bailey retired 14 batters in a row. He threw 10 pitches in the second and just nine in the third, and struck out the side in the fourth. Only one ball escaped the infield between the second and fifth innings.

“He was sharper than I thought he would be,” Barnhart said. “When Homer’s elevating and getting swings-and-misses on fastballs up, he’s at his best. It just opens up his split and his breaking balls even more.”

Bailey was sitting at an efficient 66 pitches through five innings, and took his turn at the plate in the top of the sixth. He got jammed as he grounded out to first, and he said it caused some problems early in the next inning.

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That was only part of the reason his final frame was so eventful. Bailey began the frame with a 3-1 lead and got an early out, but gave up a single to Alexi Amarista for his first baserunner since the first inning. Amarista moved to second on a walk to Wil Myers, and both runners advanced on a double steal.

Bailey issued another walk to Ryan Schimpf, but ball four scooted by Barnhart to the backstop. Bailey sprinted to the plate just in time to receive the feed from his catcher and swiped at Amarista before he crossed the plate.

“That’s a really hard play,” manager Bryan Price said. “We practice it in spring training and it never, ever in Spring Training fielding practice does it look like a real game.”

As alert as Bailey was there, he was the complete opposite a batter later. After missing on a close pitch to Jabari Blash for his third consecutive walk of the inning, Bailey knew he’d faced his last batter. He took a short cool-down stroll behind the mound, expecting Price to walk out of the dugout.

Before that could happen, Wil Myers darted home from third to cut the lead to 3-2. Myers crossed the plate before Bailey even realized what was happening. After the game, Bailey said it was good baserunning more than a mental lapse on his part.

“I knew it was my last hitter,” he said. “I turned my back for a second and I think he caught everybody off guard.”

Bailey was then replaced by Wood, who escaped the inning with the lead intact.

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Bailey isn’t much for sentimentality, and after the game he offered no deep thoughts about his journey back from the injury. A San Diego-based reporter’s question about whether Bailey had any doubts about reaching this point was met with a “nope” before the question was finished.

But he did find comfort in his teammates, ones who ironically wouldn’t have been around to see him back on the mound if the team’s rebuild had gone to plan over the winter.

“It was great to be back out with your teammates when you’ve been watching them for about a year and a half and wanting to be out there,” Bailey said. “To see those guys, I know how they’ve always had my back.”