Manny Machado homered and drove in the go-ahead run, the bullpen pitched 6 2/3 brilliant innings in back of Randy Vasquez, and the Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 in their series finale at Petco Park.
The Pads trailed 4-2 heading into the 7th inning, but Pirates’ relievers Tanner Rainey and Caleb Ferguson imploded with 4 walks and the Padres bats suddenly came to life with a 4-run rally that gave them the 6-4 lead.
Manny Machado’s deep sacrifice fly drove in Elias Diaz to make it 5-4 Padres, then Tyler Wade’s infield single made it 6-4.
Luis Arraez drove in Jose Iglesias with the game-tying single, and Diaz’s pinch-hit single scored Xander Bogaerts to bring the Padres to within a run at 4-3. Fernando Tatis Jr walked in 4 pitches, loading the bases after Pirates’ reliever Rainey Bogaerts, Jose Iglesias and
The Pads cut the lead in half in the bottom of the 6th. Arraez and Jackson Merrill each doubled to lead off the inning, with Merrill driving in Arraez to cut it to 4-2, bring the tying run to the plate and chase Pirates’ starter Andrew Heaney. Pinch-hitter Tyler Wade was retired on a fly ball out by reliever Chase Shugart, keeping it at 4-3.
Heaney had retired 13 Padres in a row after Jake Cronenworth’s sacrifice bunted Xander Bogaerts to 2nd after Bogey singled to lead off the 2nd inning.
The Padres’ bullpen was fantastic again, with Wandy Peralta pitching out of a bases-loaded, 1-out jam in the 3rd inning, David Morgan and Adrian Morejon kept the Pirates off the board and keep the Pads in the game.
Jason Adam pitched a 1-2-3 8th and Robert Suarez worked the 9th for his MLB-leading 19th save.
Manny Machado gave the Padres a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st inning. Manny has
But their lead didn’t last long, as Andrew McCutcheon hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd off Randy Vasquez, the 1st hit of the game allowed by the right-hander.
O’Neil Cruz had walked and stolen 2nd base- for the 2nd time in 2 at-bats- right before the homer, McCutcheon’s 2nd of the series.
With 2 down, Spencer Horowitz doubled off the wall in left field when Gavin Sheets- who is not a true left fielder- took a bad angle on the ball.
Horwitz then scored on Ke’Bryan Hayes, who was thrown out when Machado cut off Jackson Merrill’s throw as he was rounding 1st and caught him in the 8-5-3 rundown.
Adam Frazier led off the 4th with a solo HR (3) to left off Vasquez, pushing the Pittsburgh lead to 4-1.
Sheets gave the Pads- and the crowd- a big scare on the play, as he ran full-speed into the left-field wall. The slugger went to the ground and stayed down for quite a while before walking off.
Vasquez (3-5) threw just 3 1/3 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits, walking 3 and striking out 3.
***** ‘LIVE’ Instant Reaction from Jim “GRIES” Grieshaber
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Next up for the Padres is a huge 4-game road series at the San Francisco Giants starting tomorrow, with 1st pitch set for 6:45pm PT.
Stephen Kolek (3-1, 4.11 ERA) will take the mound for the Padres, facing the Giants’ Logan Webb. (5-5, 2.82 ERA) Nick Pivetta and Dylan Cease are lined up for the final 2 games, but the Padres have not named a starter for Tuesday’s game 2 as of yet.
Your PADRES POSTCAST- hosted by Jim GIES" Grieshaber- comes your way LIVE' right after the game.
The Pads swept the Giants in a 2-game home series to finish off the month of April. The Giants beat the Miami Marlins 4-2 yesterday to move into the tie with the Padres.
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