Fernando Tatis Jr. returned to the San Diego Padres lineup after missing the last two games with an illness and he wasted no time in making an impact. Tatis Jr. approached the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning. On the ninth pitch of the at-bat he crushed a 3-2 pitch off Arizona Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen deep into the left field bleachers to give the Padres a 5-2 lead. San Diego added two more runs over the final four innings en route to a 7-4 win at Petco Park,
Friday.
Tatis Jr. was the seventh batter to come to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. The inning opened with a lineout by Jackson Merrill, but then Xander Bogaerts, Gavin Sheets and Ryan O’Hearn recorded consecutive base hits. The single by O’Hearn drove in the first run of the game for the Padres and cut the Diamondbacks lead to 2-1.
Jake Cronenworth had an opportunity to tie the game with runners at the corners, but he struck out looking on a pitch up and in. Freddy Fermin worked a two-out walk and set the stage for the blast by Tatis Jr. The grand slam was the fourth of Tatis Jr.’s career and was just the second grand slam allowed by Gallen in his career.
San Diego loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fifth inning. Manny Machado walked to start the inning and Merrill flied out to left field. Bogaerts singled to put two runners on and Sheets reached on what was ruled a fielder’s choice and an error when Arizona shortstop Geraldo Perdomo was unable to secure the throw from second baseman Ketel Marte.
Gallen was taken out of the game and was replaced by reliever Philip Abner. O’Hearn was the first batter to face Abner and he struckout for the second out of the inning. Cronenworth worked a five-pitch walk to force home Machado and put the Padres ahead, 6-2.
Yu Darvish started on the mound for San Diego and completed five innings. He allowed two runs, both on solo home runs, and scattered six hits. Darvish walked two and struckout four in his final regular season start.
Bradgley Rodriquez and Wandy Peralta pitched two scoreless innings. Kyle Hart started on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning and last 1/3 of an inning after allowing two walks. David Morgan followed him and lasted 1/3 of an inning, allowing three walks, two of which resulted in runs for Arizona to make the score, 6-4. Mason Miller was forced into the game and ended the inning and preserved the lead with a strikeout of Jorge Barrosa.
San Diego tacked on a run in the bottom half of the eight inning. Machado, Luis Arraez and Merrill hit three consecutive singles and Machado scored on the Merrill single to give the Padres a 7-4 lead. Bogaerts followed with a lineout to first base to end the inning.
Miller returned to the mound in the top of the ninth inning and recorded three outs to get the four-out save and seal the win for San Diego. The Padres remain two games behind the Chicago Cubs for the fourth seed in the National League Standings. The Diamondbacks were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.
The Padres play the Diamondbacks, Saturday at 5:40 p.m.
