Padres’ Mike Clevinger Calls Out Diamondbacks Announcer Bob Brenly After Scoreless Outing
San Diego Padres pitcher Mike Clevinger threw six shutout innings Wednesday night in San Diego’s 4-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was the sixth start of the season for Clevinger, and the righty was locked in, striking out six while allowing just one hit.
Clevinger was also locked in the postgame, calling out Diamondbacks broadcaster Bob Brenly for comments made during his start.
“I overheard a little talking upstairs with Bob saying that he might have a flight delayed because of my pitching,” Clevinger told Bally Sports San Diego after the game. “So I thought, ‘Let’s see if I can work fast and attack.’ And it seemed to go really, really well. So, thanks Bob.”
Brenly and his partner on the broadcast discussed Clevinger’s pitching windup during the game, with Brenly comparing Clevinger's windup to a “polka dance.”
“And you’re not really missing any action,” Brenly said. “You’re missing dead time. That’s a half-hour of dead time. Watching guys fix their batting gloves or watching pitchers do a polka dance out there on the rubber before throwing the pitch. Fans don’t pay their money to come to the ballpark and see that. They want to see baseball.”
Clevinger then challenged Brenly to come down to the Padres clubhouse to get to know the players.
“It’s hard to sit here and hear guys in the booth get to talk all they want, and not know who the guys in the clubhouse are,” Clevinger added. “You hear this back and forth has been going on for years. Especially here. I just want Bob to know, that he has an open invite to come down to our clubhouse to find out what kind of people we really are instead of just running his mouth up there.”
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Brenly also discussed Clevinger’s short time at The Citadel, where he spent one year before transferring to junior college.
“He spent half my outing talking about me getting punishments at the Citadel,” Clevinger said. "... So I would like Bob Brenly to come down here and talk to me face-to-face and find out about who I am as a person and why I even got in the Citadel in the first place. I’m just sick of hearing him get this pass because he’s in the booth.”
Brenly has a history with the Padres, criticizing Manny Machado for laying down his bat in front of home plate and Fernando Tatis Jr. for wearing gold chains in 2019.
“He feels like he’s grandfathered in because he’s been around,” Clevinger said. “I don’t take kindly to people talking about me when they don’t know me.”
Brenly won a World Series in 2001 as manager of the Diamondbacks.