But the Miami Marlins, desperate for starting pitching, signed Penny to a minor-league contract on June 14 so the 36-year-old right-hander could try for a comeback.
And there he was on the Great American Ball Park mound Saturday night, recalled from Triple-A to make his first major-league appearance since 2012 and first major-league start since 2011.
He wasn’t magical, but resilient enough to keep the Marlins in the game for five innings, a game Miami eventually extracted from the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3. The Reds’ second straight one-run loss to the Marlins dropped them to a precarious six games behind Milwaukee in the National League Central.
Penny recorded his first big-league win since Sept. 25, 2011.
As too often happens this season, the Reds turned the basepaths into a death trap. A runner was thrown out at home plate for the 24th time this season and Chris Heisey was picked off first base after leading off the ninth inning with a single. He represented the tying run but stood dumbfounded and unable to move when Miami closer Steve Cishek threw to first.
Heisey was standing 10 feet off first base — a possum in the headlights and just as dead.
It was the 69th base-running blunder by the Reds this year — pickoffs, caught stealings, rounding the bases too far, thrown out trying to take extra bases. That’s 69 outs given away, the equivalent of 2 ½ games worth.
“It was a mistake and he (Heisey) knows it was a mistake,” said Reds manager Bryan Price. “Nobody feels worse about it than he does. It’s a mistake, that’s what it was, that’s all I can say.”
Penny and Reds starter Alfredo Simon seemed to be trying to see who could walk the most hitters over their identical five innings and Simon won, 5-4. Both gave up two runs, but one charged to Penny was unearned. Each gave up four hits.
And Simon, a 12-game winner at the All-Star break, is still at 12 wins five starts after the break. Some believe Simon is used up because he had never thrown more than 115 1/3 innings in a major-league season and is now at 143.
Price doesn’t buy it.
“Tired? We’d have to see it through velocity or general malaise,” said Price. “Fatigue is something you can generally see. But he’s the same, chomping at the bit. He wanted to stay in the game, but he was at 91 pitches and he wasn’t sharp. He walked the bases loaded the previous inning so he had to come out.
“I just want to stay away from the fatigue thing because it is too easy for me to go that route. He has pitched his tail off. He has 12 wins and it stinks that he hasn’t pitched well since the All-Star break, but I just can’t pin the excuse that he is tired. I haven’t seen that.”
The game was decided when Sam LeCure, once a relief pitcher who kept things safe and secure, was not able to guard the tie.
He replaced Simon in the sixth and gave up two runs, starting the inning with a walk to Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Adeiny Hechavarria, the No. 8 hitter, singled to right to put two on with no outs.
Pinch-hitter Jordany Valdespin bunted the runners up a base so Christian Yelich could hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2 and Donovan Solano could hit a two-out doube to make it 4-2.
Miami took a 1-0 lead in the first off Simon on Yelich’s leadoff double, a sacrifice bunt and Giancarlo Stanton’s sacrifice fly. Jay Bruce tied it in the bottom of the first off Penny with a home run.
Miami stepped back in front 2-1 in the second when Simon walked Saltalamacchia to open the inning, Hechavarria singled, both runners moved up on a bunt and Saltalamacchia scored on Yelich’s ground ball to shortstop.
The Reds re-tied it in the third on Billy Hamilton’s one-out single, an error by first baseman Garrett Jones on a ball hit by Bruce that sent Hamilton to third and Todd Frazier’s single. Hamilton scored on the single but Bruce was thrown out at home trying to score from second.
And that’s how it stood until LeCure trudged to the mound in the sixth and gave up two runs.
The Reds pulled within one in the eighth. Devin Mesoraco doubled and pinch-hitter Brayan Pena drove one off the right-field wall. Mesoraco had to hold at second to see if the ball was caught and only made third base. Pena, nursing a hamstring ache, stopped at first.
Skip Schumaker grounded to short, scoring Mesoraco to cut Miami’s advantage to 4-3 with the tying run on first and one out. But Kristopher Negron struck out and Zack Cozart grounded to short.
“Look, in a nutshell it was not a very well-played game by either team,” said Price. “They outlasted us. There were a lot of walks, a lot of pitches thrown by both starters and we made some mistakes.
“We gave ‘em two or three leadoff walks that scored and they did a few things situationally — Yelich hit a fly ball and a ground ball to score runs and they had a sacrifice fly from Stanton. They did what they needed to do to win. We just didn’t play very well.”
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