MEXICO CITY — Between innings, the mariachi band performed and the sellout crowd at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú sang alongside in unison. When Nelson Cruz launched a no-doubt residence run within the third inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. greeted him on the prime step to bestow him with a sombrero.
When Manny Machado hit a two-run homer to place the Padres on prime within the seventh, the ballpark erupted. When Nick Martinez slammed the door within the ninth, the Vicente Fernández basic “Volver, Volver” blared from the audio system, and the ballpark sang once more.
On a heat Saturday night in Mexico City, the Padres’ sluggish begin to the 2023 season felt prefer it was 2,000 miles away. Because it was. Their offensive struggles? More of an issue for sea degree.
The Padres and Giants introduced large league baseball to the Mexico capital for the very first time on Saturday. And they did so with an altitude-aided offensive show for the ages — a 16-11 slugfest through which the Padres slugged a bit extra to open the Mexico City Series.
Five Padres went deep, together with Machado twice, as San Diego outlasted the Giants. At altitude of seven,300 ft, the 2 groups mixed for 11 residence runs, two shy of the Major League document set by the D-backs and Phillies in 2019. Ten gamers went deep, equaling the Major League mark set in that very same sport.
“I can’t say I love pitching here,” stated Padres beginning pitcher Joe Musgrove, who was tagged for seven runs throughout 3 1/3 innings. “But that’s one of the funnest ballgames I’ve ever been a part of.”
Not that an atmosphere like this one essentially wanted the offense. The social gathering began early and lasted into the night time. The ballpark buzzed lengthy earlier than first pitch, with gates open three hours early to permit followers to catch the complete batting apply for each groups.
Horns blared. The wave broke out a number of occasions. When the motion on the sphere slowed — uncommon, in a sport like this — followers danced to native tunes, usually performed by a mariachi band behind residence plate.
“I love it,” stated Juan Soto. “I loved it every second, every moment.”
Said Tatis: “I had goosebumps before the game started, and when you have those feelings, you definitely play better.”
The proper environment on the proper time for these Padres. Their vaunted offense limped into Mexico, struggling in practically each division however walks. The staff opened the season simply 13-14.
Then, every of the Padres’ first 5 hitters launched residence runs on Saturday. Cruz began the fireworks with a solo shot within the third. Soto and Xander Bogaerts went again to again within the fourth. Tatis and Machado did so within the fifth.
“This,” Tatis stated, “is just what we needed.”
With Cruz’s third-inning blast, he grew to become the oldest participant in franchise historical past to homer, surpassing a mark held by Rickey Henderson. That was one in every of 5 hits for Cruz, making him the second-oldest participant in large league historical past with a five-hit sport (behind solely a 45-year-old Pete Rose).
On prime of all of it, Cruz even swiped second base throughout a four-run eighth inning through which the Padres broke the sport open.
“It’s amazing,” Soto stated. “You see a guy like that – he’s a grinder. He’s grinding every day, and it’s amazing to see what he can do. He’s coming every day to play hard. It doesn’t matter if he’s struggling at all, he’s coming every day to play. It’s crazy to see that at 42 years old.”
Lefty Tom Cosgrove earned the win in his large league debut, retiring Joc Pederson to finish the highest of the seventh earlier than Machado’s go-ahead two-run shot. Martinez adopted with two lights-out aid innings, putting out 5 and in some way making the atmosphere appear regular.
It wasn’t, in fact. While the social gathering raged within the bleachers, Martinez stated his thoughts wandered. More than something, he needed to make sure that he wasn’t the one who would spoil the staff’s deliberate postgame celebration. They had packed a four-foot Buzz Lightyear piñata filled with sweet. They deliberate to bust it open.
Naturally, Cruz had the honors. His first swing took Lightyear’s head clear off, however Cruz didn’t muster all that a lot sweet out of his first few cuts. (His worst swings of the night time.) Eventually, Cruz grabbed the piñata and threw it to the ground.
It set off a clubhouse-wide celebration of Padres gamers, most of whom donned City Connect-themed Lucha Libre masks. Cruz, in the meantime, danced whereas sporting the house run sombrero — a prop that Tatis discovered on his adventures throughout Friday’s off-day. That prop was initially meant for these two video games solely. But after an evening like this — who is aware of?
“If we’re going to keep rolling, of course we’re going to take it to San Diego,” Tatis stated.
They’ve received 9 extra innings in Mexico City first.
And they may rating a number of extra runs.
Content Source: www.mlb.com