Padres Week in Review: The One Where Manny Machado Hit A Big Homer

[Steve Drumwright]

San Diego Padres Weekly Snapshot

Record last week: 2-4

Runs scored last week: 24

Runs allowed last week: 24 (season run differential: minus-10)

 

 

Scores

• Game 71 (Monday): Cardinals 3, Padres 0
• Game 72 (Tuesday): Cardinals 3, Padres 2
• Game 73 (Wednesday): Padres 6, Cardinals 1
• Thursday: Off
• Game 74 (Friday): Rangers 9, Padres 7
• Game 75 (Saturday): Padres 6, Rangers 4 (10 innings)
• Game 76 (Sunday): Rangers 4, Padres 3

Week in Review and Highlights

Cardinals series

Game 1: This was a tip-your-cap game. When a pitcher is on like St. Louis Cardinals right-handed starter Dustin May was in the series opener, there isn't much you can do. The former Los Angeles Dodger took a perfect game into the seventh inning, settling for a one-hitter in his first complete game as the Padres fell 3-0. Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the seventh inning to ruin the perfect game and Manny Machado grounded a single to left field two batters later to foil the no-hitter. But the Cardinals' defense came through to keep the shutout intact as shortstop Masyn Winn, last year's NL Gold Glove winner, ranged up the middle to snag Gavin Sheets' grounder, raced to get the force-out at second base and fired to first to get the inning-ending double play.

May needed 101 pitches to complete his nine-strikeout performance. Before this outing, May had never recorded an out in the eighth inning as a starting pitcher. Meanwhile, the Padres employed an opener in an effort to get right-hander Lucas Giolito going. The opener worked as left-hander Wandy Peralta struck out one in a perfect first inning. Giolito, who hadn't gone more than four innings in his three previous starts, went five innings, but it still wasn't sharp. He allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out a pair. He put up zeroes in his first two innings before the Cardinals got to him for two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth. Left-hander Kyle Hart, called up before the game as closer Mason Miller was put on the bereavement-family medical emergency list, covered the final two, allowing just a hit.

The Padres were without manager Craig Stammen, who was suspended for one game along with right-handed reliever Ron Marinaccio (three games) for hitting Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson in Saturday's game. Marinaccio is appealing his suspension, allowing him to remain on the active roster. Managers can't appeal.

Game 2: The good news is that the Padres had four times as many hits as they did the day before. The bad news is that means they only had four hits. After a series in Baltimore in which things seemed to be turning around, two games in St. Louis have sent the Friars back to where they were. The latest entry in that book was a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals. Right-hander Michael King, the de facto leader of the rotation due to injuries to Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove, trudged through 4⅓ innings, giving up three runs on five hits with three walks and a strikeout. In seven of his 15 starts, he has walked three or more. This short start came after three consecutive six-inning outings, yet he has allowed at least three runs in his last five games. King gave up a pair of runs in the second inning and another in the bottom of the fifth after the Padres had pulled within 2-1 in the top of the fifth. He also threw 93 pitches and couldn't get a second out in the fifth.

But the pitching struggles are magnified by the woeful offense. This time, the Friars made right-handed starter Andre Pallante look like a Cy Young Award contender. Pallante struck out six over seven innings, giving up a pair of runs on four hits and no walks. Pallante had a perfect game two outs into the fifth, a day after May took a perfecto into the seventh. Samad Taylor finally broke through with an infield single, giving him an eight-game hitting streak, tied for the longest on the team this year (Miguel Andujar, Luis Campusano). Taylor stole second and scored on a Ty France single. The other two hits came an inning later when Tatis singled with two outs and Jackson Merrill doubled. But 10 of the final 11 Padres were retired, with Machado drawing a two-out walk in the ninth.

Game 3: The perfect game bid by the Cardinals' starter lasted only until the second batter. Taylor, moved to the No. 2 spot in the lineup, walked, then Merrill singled him to third and Machado had a sacrifice fly. That helped change the script from the first two innings and the Padres were able to hold those vibes, pulling away late for a 6-1 triumph to avoid being swept. The bullpen deserves a ton of credit in this one. Right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez was the opener and pitched a scoreless first, allowing a single. After right-hander Griffin Canning, a bullpen that was down Marinaccio, whose suspension was reduced to two games and began serving the penalty with this game, finished things off with Hart going 1⅔ innings, right-hander Jason Adam taking the eighth and left-hander Adrian Morejon closing it out in a non-save situation. Canning was better after giving up seven runs in five innings his last time out. He only went 4⅓ innings, though, allowing one run on four hits as he walked three and fanned a pair while throwing 77 pitches.

The early run stood until the fourth, when the Padres added another on a Machado double and a Xander Bogaerts one-out single. It became 3-0 in the fifth when Will Wagner singled, went to second on a wild pitch and came home on Tatis' line-drive double that was misplayed by the center fielder, who had the ball sail over his head. The Cardinals got one back in the bottom of the fifth on a walk and two singles off Canning. But that would be the extent of the damage the Cardinals would do. The offense provided the knockout blow in the ninth. Sung-Mun Song singled past the second baseman and went to third on Tatis' one-out single that saw him thrown out at second trying for a double. Taylor rekindled the fire and extended his hitting streak to nine with a single and a steal of second. Merrill allowed Taylor to trot home when he hit a high drive just inside the right-field foul pole for his eighth homer of the season.

Rangers series

Game 1: In a game in which 11 runs were scored in the first inning, the difference came down to the starting pitchers. The Padres tagged two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom with five runs in the top of the first, only to see the Texas Rangers retaliate with six runs against right-hander Randy Vasquez. But the pedigree of deGrom allowed him to adjust and settle in to last six innings, while Vasquez couldn't make it through the fourth in the Padres' 9-7 loss. Despite being staked to that 5-0 advantage, Vasquez's undoing can be traced to the very first batter he faced. Joc Pederson hit a grounder to first baseman France, who flipped to Vasquez, who dropped the ball. Two of the three walks he would issue on the day followed in the next four batters and it was downhill from there. Vasquez finished by getting just 10 outs, surrendering seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and three walks with only one strikeout. It was the third time in five starts Vasquez has given up a season-worst eight hits and only the second time in 15 starts he didn't register multiple strikeouts.

The positive portion of the day was that the Padres jumped on deGrom. Slow starts have been a trademark of this year's Friars, but not this day. Tatis (walk) and Taylor (single) reached before deGrom punched out the next two hitters. Sheets kept things going on a sharp single to right to bring in Tatis. Sheets even stole a base (his fourth this year) before Bogaerts walked on a full count to load the bases. France then launched a 98.3 four-seamer for an opposite-field grand slam, the first yielded by deGrom in his illustrious career for a 5-0 lead. After the Rangers' counterpunch in the bottom of the first, the Friars tied it in the fourth when France jumped on the third consecutive slider he saw from deGrom and smashed his second homer of the game, this one to center. It was France's second multi-homer game and eighth long ball of the year for five RBIs, matching his career best. The Rangers chased Vasquez in the bottom of the inning with another run, tacked on another in the sixth and the teams traded runs in the eighth, with the Padres getting a solo shot from Sheets.

France would double in the sixth inning, making him the first player to ever have three extra-base hits off deGrom in a single game. Taylor also had three hits and Sheets a pair, accounting for eight of the team's 10 hits. Catcher Rodolfo Duran was removed from the game after taking a foul off his right knee. He finished the seventh inning, but Blake Hunt made his MLB debut in the bottom of the eighth. Born in Costa Mesa, Hunt was in his ninth year in the minors when called up the previous weekend. He had been called up in 2024 by the Baltimore Orioles, but did not appear in a game. In another quirk, weather delayed two of the four umpires from being on the field for the start of the game. The other two appeared for the bottom of the first.

Game 2: And now we have our Manny moment. Just over two weeks following Tatis' walk-off homer, Machado bashed a three-run homer in the top of the 10th inning as part of a five-RBI game that stood up for the Padres 6-4 victory over the Rangers. Machado's issue has been the opposite of Tatis this year: He has the power production, but not the consistent hitting. Machado has been at or near the bottom of qualified hitters in batting average, but his homer, his second hit of the day, lifted his number to .178 this season. It was also his 13th homer of the year, putting him one ahead of Sheets for the team lead. This win, a nice bounce back following the series-opening setback, rekindled some of the late-inning magic that was present in April. Down 3-1 in the eight, Machado had an RBI groundout and Merrill a run-scoring single to tie it. Otherwise, the offense had been held down by former Padres left-hander MacKenzie Gore, who gave up a run on five hits and two walks with six punchouts in an emergency start. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi was scratched with left knee soreness, with Gore moving up a day. Eovaldi was rescheduled to go Sunday.

Padres right-hander Walker Buehler is on a bit of a roll. While not particularly sharp in previous outings, Buehler, working with Hunt as he made his first MLB start, allowed just one run in his fourth straight start in his 5⅓ innings, matching his season high with seven strikeouts, while allowing five hits and a walk. The lone run came on his last batter as Wyatt Langford had an RBI double. He was replaced by Hart, who escaped further damage. But it was Adam who glitched, giving up a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on Jake Burger's 13th homer of the season for a 3-1 lead. Morejon continued to be stellar, punching out five, tying his career high, in two shutout innings and Miller, who returned Friday from the bereavement-family medical emergency league list, took over in the 10th, allowing the zombie runner to score on Langford's two-out single before notching his second strikeout to seal his NL-leading 20th save in as many chances.

The offense produced nine hits a day after having 10, showing signs of getting back to something normal. Merrill had three hits and Tatis two.

Game 3: On a day where pitching was in control, the Rangers were a bit better than the Padres. You can understand that when it was, essentially, a matchup between Giolito and Eovaldi. Giolito came on after Peralta once again served as an opener, but Giolito only managed to go four innings while Eovaldi went six. Both gave up all the runs in a 4-3 Padres loss, finishing the nine-game road trip 4-5. Giolito has gone four innings or less in four of his last five outings and is currently sitting with a 5.16 ERA after giving up four runs on seven hits, including a homer, and two walks with a pair of strikeouts. The big blow came on a three-run homer from Langford in the third inning. The young center fielder jumped on a first-pitch changeup and launched it for his sixth homer of the season and a 3-0 lead.

The Padres retaliated with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth. Merrill got his 11th hit of the road trip when he had a leadoff double and Machado continued to heat up with a line single to left to move him to third. Sheets came through again with an RBI single to make it 3-1. One out later, with Sheets now on second, Bogaerts grounded a single to center to score Machado and Sheets, who had taken a step back toward second, was sent home and thrown out. That short-circuited a bigger rally as France singled and Song doubled home Bogaerts to tie it 3-3. The Rangers came right back, however, as Giolito gave up three straight one-out singles to Nicky Lopez, Langford and Josh Jung for the go-ahead run. Eovaldi did give up seven hits while punching out nine.

The Friars had another nine hits, the fifth time on this nine-game roadie with at least that many. The offense surfacing comes at a good time as the competition this week stiffens. The Padres return home to face the top two records in the MLB in Atlanta (Monday-Wednesday) and then the rival Los Angeles Dodgers (Friday-Sunday).

Marvelous Mason Miller

Some of the amazing stats for the Padres' closer:

• Season stats: 1-1, 0.87 ERA, 30 games, 20 saves (20 chances), 31 IP, 13 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 12 BB 61 K, .124 opponent average
• Only pitcher with 20 or more saves this season to not have a blown save.
• His 52⅓ innings without allowing an extra-base hit is three innings shy of the longest run in the Expansion Era (1961), set by Bob Welch of the 1980 Los Angeles Dodgers.
• His 52⅓ innings without allowing a homer is the second-longest active streak in MLB behind the 71⅓ of Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski.

Random Stats

• The Padres have lost the opening game in eight of their 13 road series this season, including four straight.
• Samad Taylor, who batted leadoff Sunday with Fernando Tatis Jr. sitting out, has a 12-game hitting streak after going 0-for-2 in his first game after being promoted. He is hitting .378 (17-for-45). This is the longest streak by a Padre this year and longest since Luis Arraez had a 15-gamer in September.
• Manny Machado's five-RBI game Saturday was his second this season (April 26 vs. Arizona) and the 15th of his career.
• The Padres are 3-1 in extra innings this season.
• The Padres surpassed 3 million tickets sold this week, making this the fourth season in a row they have hit that threshold.

Transactions

• Monday: Placed RHP Mason Miller on the bereavement list.
• Monday: Recalled LHP Kyle Hart from Triple-A El Paso.
• Monday: Sent OF Bryce Johnson outright to Triple-A El Paso.
• Wednesday: RHP Ron Marinaccio suspended for two games following appeal.
• Thursday: Signed free-agent SS Yomar Maduro to a minor-league contract.
• Thursday: Signed free-agent RHP Heiver Hernandez to a minor-league contract.
• Thursday: Signed free-agent SS Chrystian Herrero to a minor-league contract.
• Thursday: Signed free-agent RHP Angel Gamarra to a minor-league contract.
• Friday: Activated RHP Mason Miller from the bereavement list.
• Friday: Optioned RHP Bradgley Rodriguez to ACL Padres.
• Saturday: Activated RHP Ron Marinaccio.
• Sunday: Activated DH Miguel Andujar from the 10-day injured list.
• Sunday: Designated 1B Nick Solak for assignment.

Website Highlights

• New Statcast data reveals just how dominant Padres' Miller really is — Randy Holt
• Andujar's injury allows Padres to reset expectations — Brendan Dentino
• Merrill's power is starting to manifest, thanks to breaking balls — Randy Holt
• France's June swoon is becoming impossible for Padres to ignore — Yirsandy Rodriguez
• Sheets found and subsequently lost the blueprint to success — Yirsandy Rodriguez

Looking Ahead

• Monday: Atlanta (Grant Holmes) at Padres (Michael King), 7:10 p.m.
• Tuesday: Atlanta (JR Ritchie) at Padres (Griffin Canning), 6:40 p.m.
• Wednesday: Atlanta (Martin Perez) at Padres (Randy Vasquez), 5:40 p.m.
• Thursday: Off
• Friday: Dodgers (Roki Sasaki) at Padres (Walker Buehler), 6:45 p.m.
• Saturday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) at Padres (Lucas Giolito), 5:40 p.m.
• Sunday: Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan) at Padres (Michael King), 1:10 p.m.

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