Padres Week in Review: Castellanos Rescues Rough Week With Dramatic Homer

[Steve Drumwright]

San Diego Padres Weekly Snapshot

Record last week: 4-3

Runs scored last week: 25

Runs allowed last week: 21

Standings

 

 

Scores

• Game 34 (Monday): Giants 3, Padres 2
• Game 35 (Tuesday): Padres 10, Giants 5
• Game 36 (Wednesday): Padres 5, Giants 1
• Game 37 (Thursday): Cardinals 2, Padres 1
• Game 38 (Friday): Cardinals 6, Padres 0
• Game 39 (Saturday): Padres 4, Cardinals 2
• Game 40 (Sunday): Padres 3, Cardinals 2 (10 innings)

Week in Review and Highlights

Giants series

Game 1: If you have heard this before, it is because you have. For the third time in four games, the Padres' offense was stifled by a young pitcher. This time it was 25-year-old San Francisco Giants right-hander Trevor McDonald who kept the Friars' bats quiet in a 3-2 loss. Making his third career start and fifth appearance, McDonald threw the fourth quality start in the Padres' last five games, allowing one run on two hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in seven innings in his first MLB game this season. The one run he did allow? That was Jackson Merrill drilling the first pitch he saw with two outs in the first inning for a solo homer to straightaway center field, his fourth homer this year. Merrill's blast went 436 feet, tying Manny Machado (in Mexico City) for the longest by a Friar this year.

Padres right-handed starter Randy Vasquez, however, gave that run and another back in the bottom of the second. It remained 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth, when the Giants got to Vasquez for another run. Old friend Luis Arraez had a leadoff double against his former teammate, went to third on a groundout and scored on a Rafael Devers sacrifice fly. Overall, it was a solid performance by Vasquez, who went 5⅔ innings, allowing those three runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The Padres' offense, which had a stretch of 15 straight hitters retired by McDonald, again had an opportunity to steal a win late. Ramon Laureano launched his fifth homer of the season leading off the ninth to pull the Friars within 3-2. But the core of the lineup, Fernando Tatis Jr., Merrill and Machado went down in order for a fifth loss in six games.

Game 2: The last thing the Padres needed was to face one of the best pitchers in MLB. But that is exactly what happened. And that old adage "You can't predict ball" came to fruition. Going up against Giants right-hander Logan Webb, who finished in the top six of NL Cy Young Award voting the last three seasons, the Padres exploded for double-digit runs for just the second time this season in a 10-5 victory. The Friars matched their season highs for runs and hits (14). Whether it was because of a lineup shuffle—Tatis was moved down from second to fifth in the order, putting Miguel Andujar third and Gavin Sheets at cleanup, and Sung-Mun Song starting his first MLB game after being called up earlier in the day—or just the baseball gods doing their thing, it worked. Song had his first two MLB hits, Xander Bogaerts homered and Andujar and Merrill, hitting leadoff, each had three hits. Andujar's day included a double and a triple. The Padres were also more aggressive against Webb. While scoring five runs in the fourth inning and sending nine players to the plate, they only saw 21 pitches from Webb. Perhaps that mentality will help unlock the offense.

Padres right-handed starter Walker Buehler gave up a pair of runs in each of the first two innings, putting the Giants up 4-1. That was the score when things turned around in the fourth. With one out, Sheets hit an opposite-field single to left and Tatis an opposite-field double to right. Bogaerts had an RBI groundout and Nick Castellanos a run-scoring single to make it 4-3. Luis Campusano was hit by a pitch and Song delivered his first MLB hit in his second plate appearance, a ringing double to left-center to put the Padres up 5-4. With Song on third, Merrill singled to extend the lead to 6-4. A Castellanos sac fly in the fifth and an Andujar RBI single put the Friars up 8-4. The Padres tacked on two more in the eighth as Song reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on Merrill's double. Merrill went to third on a groundout and scored on a balk.

Buehler steadied himself from there, making it through 5⅓ innings, surrendering seven hits and no walks with five strikeouts. He retired 11 straight before two runners reached in the sixth. The relief corps of Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Ron Marinaccio finished things off. Song was called up due to second baseman Jake Cronenworth going on the seven-day concussion list, something that appears to go back to him getting hit in the shoulder by a pitch that deflected into his face April 18 vs. the Los Angeles Angels. He described himself as being in various states of a "hazy fogginess" since. Cronenworth has a .144/.272/.196 slash line.

Game 3: The Padres continue to find creative ways to pull out victories. Using an opener for the first time this year and a couple of big at-bats to score four runs late, the Friars bounced the Giants 5-1. The clutch performers were familiar faces, just doing it in unusual circumstances. Sheets, with a knack of late-game homers, drilled a solo shot into McCovey Cove in the top of the fourth inning for a 1-0 lead. The Giants tied it when Rafael Devers took right-hander Matt Waldron deep in the bottom of the fifth. But it was the seventh where things got strange. Tatis reached on a rare fielding error by Giants third baseman Matt Chapman and Laureano walked. Castellanos hit a slow grounder to short that advanced the runners and Freddy Fermin flew out for the second out. While the Giants made a pitching change, bringing in a left-hander, Padres manager Craig Stammen debated using a pinch-hitter for Song, a left-handed hitter. Stammen took too long to make his decision to put Ty France in for Song, who was approaching the batter's box when called back. It cost France a strike on a pitch-clock violation. Nonetheless, France got the count to 3-2 when he lofted an opposite-field fly ball down the right-field line. Giants right fielder Jesus Rodriguez, in his third MLB game and first in right field after catching in the other two, had the ball deflect off his glove, going for a France's second triple of the season and scoring both runners for a 3-1 lead.

In the eighth, Machado had a leadoff walk and, one out later, Bogaerts—who came off the bench to play defense in the seventh—crushed his second homer in as many days for a 5-1 advantage. Meanwhile, the pitching staff kept the Giants quiet in a slightly unconventional way. Right-handed reliever Bradgley Rodriguez got the call as an opener, the first used by the Friars this year, and he tossed a perfect first. Right-hander Matt Waldron, who has struggled in his three starts since coming up, took over and pitched five stellar innings, striking out seven and allowing just two hits. That could be a formula for future Waldron starts, however many there are. Left-hander Adrian allowed a hit in two scoreless innings and closer Mason Miller pitched a perfect ninth in a non-save situation.

Cardinals series

Game 1: The Padres can throw a quality start, too. And this one by Michael King was very high quality. The right-hander allowed just one hit, a homer, over six innings, but the Friars' offense was also shut down by yet another quality start by an opponent as San Diego fell to the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1. The difference came in the seventh inning when Jordan Walker's torrid start to the season continued with a leadoff double and then a one-out triple by Masyn Winn that snapped a 1-1 tie.

But King was the story for the Padres. The soon-to-be 31-year-old continued his impressive beginning to 2026. King walked two and struck out six, but he was one pitch away from six innings of no-hit ball. His lone mistake was to Alec Burleson, who jumped on a first-pitch changeup and lined it just over the right-field fence with one out in the fourth inning to tie the game 1-1. The Padres had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Machado walked, went to second on Tatis' single to left and scored on Bogaerts' opposite-field single to right. But that was the extent of the Friars' scoring as Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore was nearly as good as King. Liberatore allowed just three hits with three walks and six strikeouts in six innings.

The Padres' bullpen, while very good, hasn't been as lockdown as it was last year. Rodriguez came on for King in the seventh and gave up the two decisive hits. Tatis had two of the Friars' four hits, but the Cardinals' relievers prevented another comeback by retiring the final eight hitters. Catcher Rodolfo Duran made his MLB debut after 11 seasons in the minors, the last two with the Padres. He went 0-for-3. Campusano went on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left big toe.

Game 2: In the immortal words of the legendary Harry Doyle, "One hit. That's all we got? One (bleeping) hit?" That is the way Friday went for the Friars. If it wasn't for Merrill's leadoff single in the fourth, there might be a lot more to stress about for Padres fans other than a 6-0 setback to the Cardinals. Still, this is one of those games to forget. Right-hander Michael McGreevy, one of the reasons why the rebuilding Cardinals are off to a better-than-expected start, allowed just one hit over six innings, striking out nine. He retired the first nine batters before Merrill grounded a single to right. The Cardinals retired the final 19 Padres hitters after Tatis' two-out walk in the fourth.

Speaking of Tatis, his no good very bad start to the season took a strange turn in the sixth inning of a scoreless game. Two singles and a one-out walk off Padres right-handed starter Griffin Canning set the stage for Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt. He pulled a 1-1 changeup through the infield and into right, where Tatis charged it then watched it scoot under his glove and roll to the wall. It unloaded the bases and Wetherholt scampered around the bases for a Little League grand slam and a sudden 4-0 Friars deficit. The next three batters singled, doubled and walked to load the bases and end Canning's evening. Left-hander Yuki Matsui made his season debut after coming off the injured list Tuesday and gave up an RBI single and a sac fly, putting the Padres down 6-0. It was a tough six earned runs for Canning, who made his second start of the season and allowed seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 4⅓ innings.

Game 3: The Padres are certainly getting the wrong end of opposing pitching performances. But at least on this day, they did enough to pull out a victory. France and Machado homered and Tatis hit a go-ahead single as the Friars came away with a 4-2 victory. Miller recorded four outs and notched his MLB-leading 12th save with a unique twist: A four-strikeout ninth inning thanks to a wild pitch on a strikeout. It wasn't a breakout performance by the offense as the Padres managed just five hits, but they made the ones they got count. Trailing 1-0 in the fifth, France hit a one-out solo homer to tie the game and plate the Padres' first run since the first inning of Thursday's series opener, a 21-inning scoreless drought. Song had a walk, Fermin a single and then a passed ball set up Tatis, who ranks in the 98th percentile in hard-hit percentage and flared a two-run single the opposite way down the right-field line. Machado tacked on an insurance run in the eighth with a solo homer, his 200th blast as a Padre and sixth of the season.

Vasquez continued his sharp start to the season. The right-hander allowed just a fourth-inning run while giving up six hits and no walks while striking out six in five innings. He has struck out six or more in four of his eight starts. Vasquez has also gone at least five innings in all but one start. Estrada and Adam followed with hitless innings. But left-hander Adrian Morejon ran into trouble in the eighth. With one out, Morejon hit Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera doubled him home to make it 3-2. After a groundout, Miller came on to face the dangerous Walker, who grounded out to end the threat. Machado's homer gave some breathing space, not that Miller needs it. In the ninth, Miller gave up a leadoff walk before a strikeout, another walk and another strikeout. The next batter, Yohel Pozo, also struck out, but strike three was a wild pitch on a wicked slider, with Pozo reaching first to load the bases. But Miller struck out Wetherholt to end the game and join the club of four strikeouts in an inning. The last Padre to do that? None other than Miller's manager, Craig Stammen, who did it on Sept. 24, 2021.

Game 4: One strike away from having their first losing week of the season, Castellanos kept the Padres alive with a dramatic two-out homer in the ninth to tie the game. An inning later, there were hugs and high-fives as Machado's sac fly to right-center as the Padres won 3-2 in 10 innings, their fourth walk-off this year. Before the ninth, the Padres were facing their second loss in this series in which they had just one hit. But not the Friars are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the NL West at 24-16.

Castellanos fouled off three pitches from Cardinals closer Riley O'Brien, including breaking a bat and borrowing one of Tatis' bats, before drilling a 3-2 sinker on the ninth pitch of the at-bat down into the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left to tie the game 2-2. Bogaerts scored ahead of him following a leadoff walk, going to second with two outs on defensive indifference and taking third on a wild pitch. In the 10th, Laureano was the automatic runner at second base, Merrill was intentionally walked and Tatis walked on a 3-2 pitch after squaring twice to bunt, loading the bases. The Cardinals brought in an extra infielder, but it didn't matter as Machado lofted the first pitch to right-center, deep enough to bring in Laureano and salvage a frustrating week by splitting this four-game series.

The Friars were in position for yet another comeback thanks to Buehler. He allowed just three hits, but one was a two-run homer by Walker in the fourth inning. Otherwise, Buehler was very good, not allowing a walk and striking out a pair. Then the bullpen picked up where he left off. Marinaccio pitched two perfect innings and Rodriguez retired all three batters he faced before Estrada and Morejon escaped the 10th unscathed.

Marvelous Mason Miller

Some of the amazing stats for the Padres' closer:

• Season stats: 18 games, 1-0, 12 saves in 12 chances, 0.96 ERA, 18⅔ innings, two runs, seven hits, five walks, 38 strikeouts, .111 opponent batting average.
• Was named NL Reliever of the Month for April, the third time he has won the award and second time in three months with the Padres (also September). He is one of three Friars to win the award multiple times, joining Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman (3), Brad Hand (2) and Robert Suarez (2).
• His 38 strikeouts leads MLB relievers.
• 11 of Miller's career saves have been of the four-out variety, including two this year.
• Has finished 17 of the Friars' 24 victories this year.
• Has not allowed a run in 40 of his 42 appearances, including the postseason, since becoming a Padre (0.81 ERA).
• New scoreless streak is at four innings.

Random Stats

• Jake Cronenworth extended his club record for being hit by a pitch to 67 in Monday's game vs. the Giants.
• Sung-Mun Song's two-run double for his first MLB hit made him the first Padre since Graham Pauley (three-run homer) on March 30, 2024, to drive in more than one run with his first hit. Song was also the fourth Friar to have at least two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs in his first career start. He is the first South Korea-born player to do that in MLB history.
• Miguel Andujar's triple on Tuesday was his 500th career hit. Injuries have limited his playing time since having 170 hits as a rookie in 2018. His only other season with 100 or more hits was last year, with 102 between the A's and Cincinnati Reds.
• Manny Machado's sacrifice bunt Wednesday was his first since he had two in 2015 with the Baltimore Orioles.
• Machado's 200th homer as a Padre put him in unique company. He is one of 11 players in MLB history with 200 homers, 1,000 hits and 650 RBIs with one team after playing 750 games with another franchise.
• Ty France's triple this week was his second of the season, the first time he has recorded multiple three-baggers in a year. He entered this season, his eighth in MLB, with four career triples.
• Tatis at 162 entering Saturday. Tatis and Chandler Simpson of the Tampa Bay Rays are the only ones among the 100 MLB players with more than 150 plate appearances to not have a homer.
• Saturday's sellout with the 18th in 23 games at Petco Park this season. The Padres rank second in MLB in attendance, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Transactions

• Tuesday: Placed 2B Jake Cronenworth on the 7-day injured list. Concussion symptoms.
• Tuesday: Recalled IF Sung-Mun Song from El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Tuesday: Activated LHP Yuki Matsui from the 15-day injured list.
• Tuesday: Optioned LHP Kyle Hart to El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Thursday: Activated IF Will Wagner from the 10-day injured list and optioned him to El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Thursday: Placed C Luis Campusano on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left big toe.
• Thursday: Selected the contract of C Rodolfo Duran from El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Thursday: Transferred RHP Joe Musgrove from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
• Thursday: Sent RHP Jhony Brito on a rehab assignment to ACL Padres.

Website Highlights

• Canning's perfectly adequate first start could be just what the Padres need — Randy Holt
• Can Tatis find a way out of his launch-angle spiral? — Randy Holt
• Hart's salvation lies in his reworked splitter — Randy Holt
• Padres are swinging harder in 2026. Does it even matter? — Randy Holt

Looking Ahead

• Monday: Off
• Tuesday: Padres (Matt Waldron) at Brewers (Brandon Sproat), 4:40 p.m.
• Wednesday: Padres (Michael King) at Brewers (Jacob Misiorowski), 4:40 p.m.
• Thursday: Padres (Griffin Canning) at Brewers (Kyle Harrison), 10:40 p.m.
• Friday: Padres (Randy Vasquez) at Mariners, 6:40 p.m.
• Saturday: Padres (Walker Buehler) at Mariners, 4:15 p.m.
• Sunday: Padres (TBA) at Mariners, 4:20 p.m.

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