The San Diego Padres opened their series against the New York Mets with a confounding 2-1 loss where they had four outs made at home plate in the first two innings of the game. Mets right fielder Carson Benge threw out Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado at the plate and left fielder A.J. Ewing threw out Xander Bogaerts at the plate as well. Luis Campusano was also out at the plate, but that came on a force out after Luis Rengifo grounded back to the pitcher with the bases loaded. Some questionable
decisions in the first two innings of the series opener proved to be the difference in the game.
The Padres and Mets met for the second game of the series on Tuesday and the difference in that game was Fernando Tatis Jr. The right fielder opened the scoring with a solo home run on the first pitch of the game to give San Diego a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Padres starter Robbie Ray found himself in trouble in the bottom of the second inning when he issued three walks to load the bases while recording just one out. He then got one of the hottest Mets hitters to ground out to Machado at third base who threw home to get the force at the plate and keep New York off the scoreboard.
With the bases still loaded and two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Ray threw a 1-0 pitch to Francisco Lindor that he hit to right field. The ball traveled over the right field wall, but Tatis jumped up reached over the wall and caught the ball. He fell back toward the warning track, landing on his feet and held everyone in suspense until he produced the ball to left everyone know he took a home run and four runs away from the Mets.
If that was not entertainment enough, Tatis returned to the plate in the top of the fifth inning with Cronenworth on base after a leadoff single. Tatis hit a bullet to right field which resulted in a two-run home run, giving him his second long ball of the game, and gave the Padres a 3-0 lead. San Diego would add to its total over the next four innings and New York scratched across two runs on solo home runs by Torrens and Luis Robert Jr. and the Padres went on to even the series with a 5-2 win at Citi Field.
After his trouble in the second inning, Ray settled in and worked through six complete innings, allowing one run on three hits with three walks, which were all issued in the bottom of the second inning, and four strikeouts. Bradgley Rodriguez worked 0.1 innings, Adrian Morejon worked 1.2 innings and Mason Miller worked a scoreless ninth inning to secure the win for San Diego.
The Padres manufactured a run in the top of the seventh inning when Rengifo and Machado walked with one out in the inning. Ty France followed with an RBI-single which allowed pinch runner Jase Bowen to score from second base. The play brought back memories of Monday night as Bowen raced home and slid in, but this time Ewing did not get the throw to the plate in time and San Diego took a 4-1 lead. After New York added a run on Robert Jr.’s solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning, Machado responded in the top of the ninth with a two-out solo home run to push the score to 5-3. It was the third hit of the night for the third baseman, who finished 3-for-4 in the game with an RBI, a run scored, a walk and a strikeout.
Tatis finished his day at the plate 2-for-5 with both of his hits being home runs. He had three RBI, scored two runs, and struck out once. Tatis was the difference for seven runs in the game. He drove in three for the Padres and took four away from the Mets with what might have been his best home run robbery yet. What will happen in the final game of the series today is anyone’s guess, but we will find out at 10:10 a.m.
Padres News:
- Ethan Salas was recently promoted to Triple-A and after a lost season due to injury, he appears to be back on track as the rising star he was thought to be when he joined the San Diego system. Has he done enough to warrant a September call up? That is the question Gaslamp Ball would like readers to answer.
- The San Diego offense has caught fire and has been the key to its success since the All-Star break.
- Joe Musgrove has been the most talked about player with regards to reinforcements for the Padres, but they may have more help on the way as well after Samad Taylor began his rehab in an attempt to get back to the big-league roster.
- Former Padres pitcher Robert Stock will face his old team today when he starts for the Mets.
- A Padres minor league catching coordinator was detained by ICE in El Paso.
Baseball News:
- The Milwaukee Brewers embarrassed the Seattle Mariners, handing them a 22-0 loss.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong gave the Chicago Cubs another walk-off win over the Chicago White Sox.
- Shohei Ohtani hit another home run to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies.
- The Boston Red Sox got a 9-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Fenway Park.
- The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins to win their fifth consecutive game.
- Jo Adell hit a 455-foot home run and helped the Cleveland Guardians beat the San Francisco Giants.
