By all accounts, the San Diego Padres should have won Tuesday night’s game. With the bases loaded in the sixth inning, the Friars grounded into an inning-ending double play. With runners on first and second in the eighth, the Cincinnati Reds struck out Samad Taylor before inducing a flyout from Jase Bowen to end the inning.
But the biggest situation came in the bottom of the ninth, where three consecutive singles loaded the bases with one out for the Padres. Manny Machado struck out to bring up Gavin
Sheets. Sheets promptly struck out as well to send the game to bonus baseball.
San Diego quickly tied the game in the 10th on an RBI-single from Taylor. But they wouldn’t get any more than that, setting up a dramatic 11th inning. The Reds’ Sal Stewart slugged a two-run shot against Yuki Matsui that would be the difference maker.
That said, this was a productive game for the Friars. The superstars showed up tonight, with Fernando Tatis Jr., Machado and Jackson Merrill going 8-for-17 at the plate. Unfortunately, that production didn’t translate into a win for San Diego. They’ll now face off against Cincinnati in the rubber match today.
Taking the mound
Brady Singer (CIN) v. Michael King (SD)
Singer spent the 2025 season as a productive back-end starter for the Reds but has not been the same in ‘26. Through 55 innings, Singer owns a 5.89 ERA, 1.69 WHIP and an incredibly high .316 opponent batting average.
Most of the Friars haven’t faced the righty, so Cincinnati will be hoping that it takes some time to figure him out. San Diego will need to put up runs quick to take the rubber match and win their first series of June.
On the other side, King has been San Diego’s ace through this season. Despite a recent rough stretch, the righty has posted a 3.41 ERA through 74 innings. His last three starts have been tough, giving up 13 runs in just 15 2/3 innings.
Unlike Singer, King has faced a majority of the Cincinnati lineup. He’s had success against most of them, but catcher Tyler Stephenson boasts a .286 batting average and a team-high seven at-bats against the righty.
Batter up!
Samad Taylor has looked fantastic in his first week with San Diego. Across 11 at-bats, the speedster boasts a .364 batting average and a .500 on-base percentage. It’s a small sample, but he’s been a veritable spark for a Padres’ offense that had gone dark.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Gavin Sheets, DH
- Ty France, 1B
- Samad Taylor, LF
- Jase Bowen, RF
- Sung-Mun Song, SS
- Rodolfo Durán, C
The stars showed up last night, but the rest of the lineup didn’t do much to help. The Padres went a blistering 3-for-20 with RISP, cutting short any hope of scoring opportunities. They’ll need to do much better tonight to win the series.
Relief corps
With the game going into extras (and Lucas Giolito going just four innings), the Friars’ bullpen looks pretty depleted after last night. David Morgan, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam, Mason Miller, Bradgley Rodriguez and Matsui covered a total of seven innings to finish out the game.
That leaves just Ron Marinaccio and Wandy Peralta in the ‘pen for the Friars. Thankfully, King has a track record of working deeper into games than most of the San Diego rotation. The Padres hope he’ll be able to do so against a middling Cincinnati lineup.
