In their final turn at-bat in their final game of the ceremonial first half of the season, the San Diego Padres had their best inning of offensive execution, and the result was a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The win not only allowed the Padres to get their first series win of July it also sent them into the All-Star break with a .500 record at 48-48. Mason Miller, who locked down his 25th save of the season, is the lone All-Star for San Diego so the rest of the team will use the break to rest and reset
for a potential playoff push in the second half of the year.
The Padres entered the bottom of the eighth inning trailing the Blue Jays, 4-3. Adrian Morejon allowed a run in the top of the inning during his second inning of work. Toronto turned to former closer Jeff Hoffman hoping to hold the lead and setup a potential save situation for their new closer, Louis Varland. Xander Bogaerts opened the inning with an infield single, which brought Manny Machado to the plate. Bogaerts stole second to move into scoring position, and Machado followed with a single into left-center field which tied the game at 4-4.
Gavin Sheets then grounded out to the shortstop, but Machado was able to advance to second on the play and was lifted for pinch-runner Jase Bowen. The rookie stole third base to put the winning run 90 feet away with Ty France at the plate with one out. France, who hit what proved to be the game-winning home run in the bottom of the sixth inning in the second game of the series, hit a deep fly ball into right-center field that carried all the way to the warning track. The ball was deep enough to allow Bowen to tag up and easily score from third base to put the Padres ahead, 5-4. Jake Cronenworth hit a two-out single, but the inning ended when Rodolfo Duran flied out to right field.
Miller came in for the save in the top of the ninth inning and made quick work of the three batters he faced. He got Ernie Clement to ground out to third base, Myles Straw to pop out to second base and put the punctuation mark on the inning and the game when he got Vladamir Guerrero Jr. to strikeout on three pitches with a nasty slider that finished in the left-hand batter’s box. Miller needed just eight pitches, seven of which were strikes, to ensure San Diego went into the break with some momentum for the second half of the season.
Machado’s game-tying hit in the bottom of the eighth inning was his third of the game. He finished the day 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Cronenworth was the only other Padres hitter to have a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI, which came in the second inning to score the first run of the game for San Diego.
German Marquez started the game for the Padres and lasted four innings. He allowed three runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He was hurt by the long ball as all three runs for the Blue Jays scored on home runs. Marquez allowed a solo home run in the first inning to Nathan Lukes and a two-run home run in the fourth inning to Clement.
San Diego returns to action on Friday on the road against the Kansas City Royals.
Padres News:
- In the second day of the MLB draft, the Padres selected multiple college players who might be able to impact the major league roster sooner than later.
- Ethan Salas and Kash Mayfield participated in the All-Star Futures Game with Salas recording a hit and Mayfield taking a loss.
- The earthquake in Venezuela affected multiple players across MLB and many are finding ways to show their support for their home country. Padres reliever Bradgley Rodriguez is one of those players.
- According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Padres general manager and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller wants to buy at the trade deadline, and the San Diego club will have to convince him to do so.
Baseball News:
- Dylan Cease of the Toronto Blue Jays and Christopher Sanchez of the Philadelphia Phillies have been named as the starters for the All-Star game.
- The Boston Red Sox stayed hot and went into the All-Star break on a nine-game road win streak.
- The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-1.
- The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals that included the benches clearing following a hit-by-pitch that resulted in an injury for the Orioles.
