Tatis, Machado start Wild Card Series with a bang, homering in 1st inning
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SAN DIEGO -- Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado live for these moments.
For the last seven years, the Padres have been the beneficiary of electrifying highlights from the superstar duo -- and they have never been ones to deny them of such. So in a way, what happened in the first inning of Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday night at Petco Park felt inevitable.
Leading off the bottom half of the frame, Tatis sent Cubs starter Matthew Boyd’s very first offering a Statcast-projected 405 feet into the Padres bullpen in left-center field, just over the outstretched glove of a leaping Pete Crow-Armstrong.
It marked the first time a Padres player had hit a leadoff home run in a postseason game, and it sent the East Village into an immediate frenzy -- very reminiscent of Tatis’ first-inning, two-run shot in Game 1 of the 2024 Wild Card Series off Braves starter Reynaldo López.
It got even louder just a few moments later.
Machado got an 81.5 mph changeup on the outside edge from Boyd and deposited it into the left-field bleachers. 2-0 Padres, just like that.
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It was the first time the Padres hit multiple home runs in the first inning of a postseason game and the ninth time in any inning.
And if it looked familiar with Boyd on the mound, it’s because it happened before -- earlier this year, in fact, when Tatis and Machado both homered off him on June 30 at Wrigley Field. Tatis’ blast in that game was also of the leadoff variety. Tuesday’s big flies broke a nice streak for the left-hander, who hadn’t allowed a homer in 119 batters faced all of September.
Quite the start to the Padres postseason run.