Musgrove sharp and Tatis homers to steer the Padres to a 7-1 win over the Rangers

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Joe Musgrove pitched six robust innings on the evening his boyhood hero, Jake Peavy, was inducted into the Padres’ Hall of Fame, Fernando Tatis Jr. homered and San Diego beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 7-1 on Friday evening.

Musgrove (10-3) was going through the Rangers for the primary time since throwing the primary no-hitter in Padres historical past, in simply his second begin together with his hometown crew, on April 9, 2021, at Texas. Musgrove gained for the ninth time in 10 selections by holding Texas to 4 hits whereas putting out 5 and strolling two.

Musgrove grew up a Padres fan in suburban El Cajon and idolized Peavy, who gained the 2007 NL Cy Young Award. Musgrove started carrying Peavy’s No. 44 after he was traded to the Padres earlier than the 2021 season.

The Rangers, managed by former Padres skipper Bruce Bochy, misplaced for the fifth time in seven video games however saved a two-game lead over Houston.

“I was excited, man,” Musgrove stated. “A lot of adrenaline. Obviously Peavy’s night … throwing in front of Boch for the first time in my career. A lot of San Diego legends in the house. I was really motivated and excited about this outing. I was honored to be able to throw on this night.”

The Rangers added a little bit of drama once they loaded the bases with two outs within the ninth and Luis Garcia walked Marcus Semien. Garcia then struck out former Padres participant Travis Jankowski to finish it.

Tatis homered to right-center off Dane Dunning (8-4) with one out within the fifth, his 18th, to offer the Padres a 3-0 lead. He added an RBI single throughout the four-run sixth.

The Padres, who’ve underwhelmed regardless of having baseball’s third-highest payroll, additionally bought RBIs from two of their different stars, Juan Soto and Manny Machado. Soto hit an RBI single within the first and Machado had a sacrifice fly within the third and a two-run single within the sixth. Gary Sanchez added an RBI double within the sixth.

It was one of many high wins of the season for the Padres, who had World Series aspirations coming into this season however have been mired in fourth place within the NL West and effectively again within the wild-card race.

“Everyone’s starting to realize where we’re at in the season and the sense of urgency we’ve got to have,” stated Musgrove, who helped lead the Padres to the NL Championship Series final yr. “The perspective and the mentality and the aggressiveness tonight on the basepaths, on the plate, actually good protection throughout, that’s the type of baseball we’ve bought to minimize the stretch.

“Like I told the guys after the game, we’ve two months left here to determine our future here for the rest of the season. If we’re going to go out, we’ve got to go out on our terms playing baseball the way that we play the game.”

The Padres have been coming off a dismal collection towards the Pittsburgh Pirates, who’re final within the NL Central, earlier than getting a powerful outing from Musgrove.

“He’s really good, he’s really tough,” Bochy stated. “He’s having another good year and you have your hands full with him. He pitched a really nice ballgame for them. They pitched well today, they got the hits, we didn’t.”

NICE PLAY

Machado made a sensational play at third to finish the seventh when he dove to his left to snag Leody Taveras’ grounder and threw him out whereas on his bottom. First baseman Jake Cronenworth held onto the throw after which fell over.

“Throw my glove out there, caught it. I know the guy was fast so I was just trying to get it over there as quick as possible,” Machado stated.

HALL OF FAME

Peavy was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame together with former proprietor John Moores throughout a pregame ceremony. It was below Moores’ possession that the Padres constructed Petco Park in downtown San Diego.

RANGERS PROSPECTS

Wyatt Langford, the fourth general choose on this yr’s draft, made his skilled debut Friday evening with the ACL Rangers in a sport on the ACL Mariners in Peoria, Arizona. He began in left and batted third. Others making their debuts in that sport have been 1B Anthony Calarco (undrafted free agent), 2B Devin Hurdle (undrafted free agent) and RF Quincy Scott (ninth spherical).

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: Placed All-Star C Jonah Heim on the 10-day injured checklist with a strained tendon in his left wrist. He got here out of a sport at Houston on Wednesday after hurting his wrist on an ungainly swing within the fourth inning. Mitch Garver began Friday evening.

Padres: With a 7-0 lead, Soto was eliminated for a pinch-hitter within the eighth. He’s been bothered by a finger damage since spring coaching and the Padres have been awaiting outcomes of an MRI. Manager Bob Melvin stated he thinks Soto’s finger is getter higher however he stung it a couple of instances. Second baseman Ha Seong-Kim additionally got here out after tweaking his again on a slide. Melvin stated there’s likelihood Soto and Kim will likely be within the lineup Saturday evening.

UP NEXT

Texas LHP Martin Perez (8-3, 4.91 ERA) and Padres RHP Yu Darvish (7-7, 4.80) are scheduled to start out Saturday evening.

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