Padres do enough, beat Pirates behind homers from Manny Machado, Juan Soto and Gary Sánchez
A win against the Pirates in July probably should not feel this big.
But it is, because a loss would have felt even bigger. Were the Padres to have lost, the reaction could rightfully have been that they couldn’t be serious. As in, they couldn’t be serious contenders.
There were some tense moments along the way, but the Padres eventually pulled away with three late runs for a 5-1 victory over the Pirates on Tuesday.
Phew.
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It just seemed that a team in the Padres’ position — six games back in the National League wild-card race with a little more than two months remaining in the season — simply had to win.
Padres left fielder Juan Soto makes a diving catch against the Pirates during the seventh inning. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“I would use must-win,” Tatis said afterward. “We had to win that one.”
They did so because Manny Machado hit a home run and Gary Sánchez hit an RBI single in the second inning, right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and left fielder Juan Soto made running catches, Soto added a home run in the seventh, Sánchez homered in the eighth and Blake Snell survived himself again.
Snell walked the first batter of the second inning and yielded an RBI double, escaped a bases-loaded jam that two walks helped create in the fifth, walked the first and fourth batters in the sixth inning and got out of that as well.
“I felt good early on,” Snell said. “Just the walks, man. Those are frustrating. They are going to add up. I can’t keep doing that. Just putting pressure on myself that I don’t need.”
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For all the walks he has issued recently — 12 over his past two starts, the same number he walked in the five before that — Snell has allowed just one run in 11 innings over those two starts and has now posted a 0.78 ERA over his past 12 starts dating to May 25. His 2.61 ERA is best in the major leagues this season.
Padres reliever Steven Wilson yielded a single and walked a batter with one out in the seventh before Soto made two catches to end the inning, the latter a diving grab of a sinking line drive. His homer came in the bottom of the inning, giving the Padres a 3-1 cushion.
Padres third baseman Manny Machado, designated hitter Gary Sanchez and right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates Sanchez’s home run. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“Home run was great,” manager Bob Melvin said. “But the play in left field was the play of the game. It’s a big momentum swing. It’s a different game if that ball drops.”
The Padres offense twice failed to bring a runner in from third base who had gotten there with one out and were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
But they won. They beat the Pirates.
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Under no conceivable circumstance could the Padres be considered relevant any longer if they lost to the Pirates for the second time in two nights and fifth time in five meetings this season.
That wouldn’t mean they had no chance to salvage their playoff hopes, just that there was no cause for anyone to believe any longer in what the Padres might be capable of.
The Pirates entered Tuesday having won just 10 of their 36 games since June 13, and four of those victories were against the Padres. Put another way, the Pirates were 6-26 against everyone else they have played in the past month-and-a-half and 4-0 against the Padres in that time.
The Pirates’ payroll is third lowest in the major leagues. The Padres’ payroll is a much-celebrated third highest.
Of the 12 Pirates players who started at least one of the first two games of this series, seven have played in fewer than 200 major league games and five have played in fewer than 30. Of the 11 players who started at least one of the past two games for the Padres, five have played in at least one All-Star game and four have played in multiple All-Star games.
Padres left fielder Juan Soto makes a diving catch against the Pirates. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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“Five would be tough,” Melvin said of the possibility the losing streak would have continued against Pittsburgh. “... I don’t necessarily think it’s just the Pirates. It’s just responding from what have been really tough losses for us this year. I think the one thing we have done well is played well when it looks like we’re in dire need of a good game, and we end up responding with it. We need more of them.”
Snell’s scoreless innings streak at Petco Park reached 24 with a perfect first inning that included Tatis making a running catch as he crashed into the foul pole for the second out. The streak ended in the second inning when Snell walked Carlos Santana and Henry Davis lined a double to the gap in left-center field with no outs.
Snell ended the top of the inning with the first three of what would become 10 consecutive outs, and the Padres took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second.
Machado led off with a 418-foot blast to left-center to tie the game. Xander Bogaerts followed with a hard liner-drive single to center field and stole second base on the pitch that ended Luis Campusano’s strikeout and scored on Sánchez’s groundball single up the middle.
Soto also sent his homer 418 feet, but to right field.
Pirates reliever Angel Perdomo hit Machado in the back with the next pitch and appeared to walk toward Machado afterward. Machado walked slowly to first base as the umpires stepped between the players. The umpires convened and decided to eject Perdomo, and Pirates manager Derek Shelton was subsequently ejected for arguing.
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“I think everyone watching the game kind of knows what happened there,” Machado said. “So there’s really nothing to talk about. ... We won the game. That’s the most important part.”
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
