Reports started flying on Twitter on Saturday afternoon that the Padres, who are about to finish arguably the worst two months in franchise history, will be relieving manager Jayce Tingler of his duties at season's end.
In a statement to NBC 7, Padres general manager A.J. Preller said "No decision has been made on Jayce's employment status at this time. (The) report is completely premature. (Jayce) will be managing our game today."
And he'll probably be managing on Sunday. And that will probably be his final time wearing a San Diego uniform.
While they're not ready to make it official yet, the Padres are very likely going to be looking for a new manager and a whole lot of new coaches this off-season. After Saturday's game, a 3-2 extra innings win over the Giants that snapped a 7-game losing streak, Tingler said he's not surprised to hear his name on the hot seat.
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"I don't have social media. I do have a phone and I get a lot of texts so, look, I get it," says Tingler. "At the same time, I try to live what I practice and preach with the guys in trying to eliminate noise. We've all got jobs to do and take a deep breath and stay focused and that's really where my mind has been."
The Padres gave their manager a bit to smile about in San Francisco. Joe Musgrove started and went 5.0 innings, allowing one run and earning his 200th strikeout of the season, the first time he's reached the 200K mark. Manny Machado provided most of the offense, driving in runs with a single and a sacrifice fly to run his season RBI total to 105.
But, the Padres didn't lead the game until the 10th inning. With it knotted 2-2 Jake Cronenworth, broken finger and all, lined a 2-out double to right field to score Victor Caratini with what turned out to be the game-winning run. Mark Melancon notched his league-leading 39th save with a scoreless bottom half.
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San Diego's season will come to an end on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park. Then the speculation about Tingler's job status can begin in earnest.
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