Padres reply LA with 7-run eighth: ‘This is what we play for’

SAN DIEGO — Trailing by two runs in opposition to the rival Dodgers, all the way down to their last six outs, the Padres positive picked an opportune time for his or her greatest inning of the season.

They spent most of their Saturday evening ready for an enormous hit which may swing the sport. Heck, they’ve spent most of their season ready for that massive hit.

And after they lastly acquired one? The floodgates opened on a wild seven-run eighth inning and an 8-3 Padres victory earlier than a raucous, sold-out Petco Park.

“This is what we play for,” mentioned Manny Machado, who homered within the fourth inning and hit a two-run single to place the Padres on prime for good within the eighth. “For games like this.”

Thing is, video games like this one have confirmed elusive for the 2023 Padres, who’ve struggled immensely in late-and-close conditions. Saturday marked the primary time this 12 months they received a sport wherein they trailed by two runs or within the eighth inning or later.

In the aftermath, they vowed {that a} come-from-behind win like this one may function a spark for one thing larger. The victory moved the Padres inside three video games within the National League Wild Card race, the closest they’ve been to a playoff spot since June 15.

“If we keep playing baseball like that,” mentioned Juan Soto, “we’re going to go a long way.”

The Padres’ eighth-inning hopes rose after they loaded the bases with one out. Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts known as for left-hander Caleb Ferguson to face the lefty-swinging Soto. Soto hit a sluggish dribbler to second that Kiké Hernández threw into the Padres’ dugout. 

The sport was tied — and the Padres had the matchup they wished. Machado had already taken southpaw Ryan Yarbrough deep for his or her first run. This time, he lined a thigh-high fastball from Ferguson by means of the 5.5 gap, plating two runs and placing San Diego prime for good.

From there, the Padres poured it on. Jake Cronenworth added an RBI single. Garrett Cooper saved the rally alive together with his first Padres hit. Trent Grisham introduced residence two extra, and supervisor Bob Melvin wouldn’t even want to make use of nearer Josh Hader.

It marked the primary time the Padres had scored seven runs in a single body in opposition to the Dodgers since September 2006. Adrián González, Todd Walker and Mike Cameron all went deep in that inning. A younger future supervisor named Dave Roberts notched an RBI single.

“Just a big game,” Machado mentioned. “Coming back, obviously after last night [when] we were ahead in the game and they came back and had that big inning, then tonight, being down the whole way — the script’s flipped.”

It proved an particularly eventful evening for Machado. In addition to his homer and his go-ahead hit, he grew displeased with a strikeout within the sixth inning when he believed Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol had come set too quickly. Machado argued animatedly with plate ump John Bacon, although he says he was all the time cognizant of the road he didn’t need to cross.

“I’m not going to get tossed,” Machado mentioned. “I’m just trying to give him information. I’m smarter than that. It’s a big game — they need me in the game. I’m just trying to lay down the facts.”

In the eighth, Machado skilled some hamstring tightness after he escaped a rundown and slid safely into third base. He was evaluated by a group coach however remained within the sport and indicated he doesn’t anticipate to overlook any time.

“Whatever, we got the win, and I scored the run after that,” Machado mentioned.

The subsequent step for the Padres is constructing on an evening like this one. They’ve underwhelmed for 4 months. But currently, there are indicators issues is perhaps turning. They swept the Rangers final weekend, organising an aggressive Trade Deadline wherein they added to the massive league roster in a significant approach.

“We know how good we are. We know we have the guys in this building to do something,” mentioned beginning pitcher Blake Snell, who allowed three runs over 5 innings. “We’re just going to keep going, keep competing, keep knowing that we should be winning every single game.”

Still, the one hurdle they wanted to clear was discovering a solution to win a sport like this one. And now that they’ve?

“It’s contagious, like anything — good stuff or bad stuff,” Melvin mentioned. “We’ve been rolling along with bad stuff here late in games and not being able to get it ignited. Hopefully, this gives us the feeling we can do really special things late in games here against good teams.”