NEW YORK (AP) — David Weathers got so excited watching son Ryan escape a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first inning, he apologized for his exuberance to nearby spectators.
“I thought they were Padres fans,” he said. “Turns out they were Yankees fans.”
Ryan got his first big league win in two years, allowing one run over five innings to help San Diego beat the New York Mets 4-2 on Tuesday night. His dad, a big league pitcher from 1991-2009, watched from a second-row seat near the San Diego dugout along with David's wife, former Belmont basketball star Kelly Davis Weathers, and Ryan's wife, Thayer.
“When they’re here, it kind of eases the nerves a little bit,” Ryan said.
Starling Marte reached on a bunt single in the first inning between walks to Brandon Nimmo.
“I stepped off after the third batter. I’m like, all right, deep breath,” Ryan said.
Pete Alonso took a 2-2 changeup just belong the knees, then on the eighth pitch of the at-bat swung over another changeup that was a bit lower and more inside. Mark Canha then bounced into an inning-ending double play.
“It was a little Houdini," Ryan said.
Ryan Weathers (1-0) ramped his velocity up to 96 mph after that and held the Mets to three hits in five innings. The 23-year-old left-hander surrendered his only run on Canha’s fourth-inning sacrifice fly. He prevented further damage in the fourth by picking off Alonso at first, Weathers’ 10th pickoff in 108 1/3 big league innings.
“It’s a really good balk move and hey, good for you,” Alonso said.
Ryan was taught by a master, Andy Pettitte, his dad's former Yankees teammate.
“Just keep your shoulder square,” Ryan recalled the lesson.
Manny Machado hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the fifth inning against David Peterson (0-2), and Xander Bogaerts boosted the lead to 4-1 with a two-run homer into the left-field second deck in the ninth off Dennis Santana.
Josh Hader gave up Tommy Pham’s RBI single in the ninth, then completed a five-hitter for his fourth save. He stranded two runners when Tomás Nido hit a comebacker and rookie Francisco Álvarez struck out.
Ryan Weathers was the seventh overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft and debuted in October 2020. He went 4-7 in the following year, and made just one major league appearance last season, when he went 7-7 with a 6.73 ERA at Triple-A El Paso and allowed 31 homers in 123 innings.
“It was just fastballs. It was not great command," Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “I think he went home in the offseason and said: I got to do some things differently and fight a little harder."
Ryan set up a portable mound in his backyard in Florence, Alabama, and threw off it three or four times a week starting Dec. 1, then began bullpen sessions later that month. He studied pitchers he wanted to emulate, learning to stay back on the rubber.
“A lot of YouTube videos, just watching every guy that had a sense of rhythm to their delivery,” he said.
Luis Campusano, speaking after his first big league three-hit game, said he noticed a difference during the first spring training bullpen.
“More velo, more movement,” the catcher explained. “It's just making his four-seam a whole lot better.”
Inserted into the rotation following an injury to Joe Musgrove, Weather left with a 3-2 lead in a no-decision as San Diego beat Arizona on April 3. His win over the Mets was his first in the majors since beating Washington on July 6, 2021.
Ryan didn't know where his family was seated but sent his father a kidding text after seeing him on an in-game television interview.
“He tells me I have a face for radio,” David said with a laugh.
A former right-hander who is now 53, David knew his son wouldn't try to spot him.
“When he was growing up, he would try to find me and I would have to be like a statue, so I couldn't show my emotion," David said.
Now that his son is in the majors, David can let loose.
“It's pretty cool,” he said.
