Stat of the Day: August 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Padres this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Padres Stat of the Day, July 2021

Aug. 31: Padres 3, D-backs 0 -- Incomplete no-hitters
Blake Snell turned in one of the best starts of his career but was denied a chance at no-hit history when he was lifted after the seventh inning with the big picture in mind. (Snell had thrown 107 pitches after a career-high 122 in his previous start.) Snell became only the second Padres starter to work at least seven no-hit frames, only to be removed without a chance to finish his no-no. He joins Clay Kirby, who was famously lifted for a pinch-hitter after eight no-hit innings on July 21, 1970, with the Padres trailing by a run against the Mets.

Aug. 30: Padres 7, D-backs 5 -- Tatis makes HR history
Playing his 100th game of the season on Monday night, Fernando Tatis Jr. launched a 444-foot moonshot in the top of the first inning, giving the Padres a 2-0 lead. It was his 36th home run -- more than any other player age 22 or younger in baseball history, through his first 100 games of the season. Cody Bellinger (2017), Johnny Bench (1970) and Joe DiMaggio (1937) each hit 34 homers in those respective seasons.

Aug. 28: Angels 10, Padres 2 -- Bullpen wear and tear?
Padres relievers have covered 555 innings this season, the most in the Major Leagues. It might be taking its toll. Three Padres relievers surrendered multiple runs in the series finale -- Pierce Johnson, Austin Adams and Tim Hill. That didn't happen once during the season's first four months. It has now happened three times in August.

Aug. 27: Padres 5, Angels 0 -- Clean sheet for Musgrove
Until this season, no Padres pitcher had ever thrown a shutout in an American League ballpark. Joe Musgrove, who no-hit the Rangers in April and tossed nine dominant frames against the Angels in the series opener, has now done so twice. In franchise history, only Andrew Cashner had pitched an Interleague shutout before this season, blanking the Tigers at Petco Park in 2014.

Aug. 26: Dodgers 4, Padres 0 -- Bats quiet vs. L.A.
The Padres' struggles at the plate reached a different level during their three-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers this week. Over the course of the series, they batted an inconceivable .090, going 10-for-111. It marked the first time the Padres have been held to four hits or fewer in all three games of a series since April 13-15, 1981, when they dropped three straight to the Reds.

Aug. 25: Dodgers 5, Padres 3 (16 innings) -- Snell stifles L.A.
This was Blake Snell's seventh career outing against the Dodgers, and he did what he usually does: he dominated. Including two starts in the World Series last year, Snell now owns a 2.06 ERA against Los Angeles across those seven outings.

Aug. 24: Dodgers 5, Padres 2 -- Pagán brings the heat
Padres right-hander Emilio Pagán put forth one of his best outings of the season in the team's bullpen day against the Dodgers, working two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. He brought the heat, too. Pagán struck out Trea Turner with a 97.9 mph fastball, the hardest pitch he's thrown in two seasons as a Padre. Despite working two innings, Pagán's fastball still averaged 96.0 mph -- his highest average for an outing since April. "It's probably the best I've felt since I've been with the Padres," Pagán said afterward.

Aug. 22: Phillies 7, Padres 4 -- Outside, looking in
The Padres are chasing a playoff spot, not being chased. The loss to the Phillies, coupled with the Reds' four-game sweep of the Marlins, dropped the Padres a game back in the race for the second National League Wild Card spot. It's the first time the Padres have found themselves outside the “if the season ended today” playoff picture since June 17 (the day Petco Park reopened to full capacity and Victor Caratini launched a walk-off home run to beat the Reds).

Aug. 21: Padres 4, Phillies 3 (10 innings) -- Late-inning drama
Jake Cronenworth's game-tying ninth-inning homer marked the second time this week that a Padres hitter has tied the game with a blast in the ninth inning or later. Trent Grisham did so with a three-run shot in Colorado on Monday. It marks the first time in franchise history that the Padres have authored two game-tying ninth-or-later homers within a week of each other. The Rockies walked off after Grisham's blast on Monday, but on Saturday night, the Padres made sure Cronenworth's would result in a win.

Aug. 20: Phillies 4, Padres 3 -- Machado’s 119.6 mph HR
Manny Machado's third-inning home run wasn't exactly a moonshot. It was still one of the most impressive blasts of the season. A laser beam down the left-field line, Machado's homer left his bat at 119.6 mph. That's the hardest-hit home run in baseball this season and the fourth-hardest that Statcast has ever recorded. (Tracking began in 2015.) It's also the highest exit velocity for any Padres batted ball (and the highest ever recorded for a non-Yankee, with only Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sánchez and Aaron Judge having hit baseballs harder since Statcast began tracking). Oh, and Machado's 15-degree launch angle? The lowest on any home run in Major League Baseball this season.

Aug. 18: Rockies 7, Padres 5 -- Wil power at Coors
Wil Myers loves hitting at Coors Field, and he launched two more homers there during the series finale. Myers has now gone deep 13 times in Colorado, the most at any visiting ballpark for him. He's one Coors Field homer away from tying Adrián González and Ryan Klesko for the most by a Padre at that venue.

Aug. 17: Rockies 7, Padres 3 -- Hit and run
Stop me if you've heard this one before: Jake Cronenworth, facing the Rockies, launched a deep drive that took a wild ricochet off the wall and away from right fielder Charlie Blackmon, resulting in an inside-the-park home run. It happened on Tuesday night at Coors Field -- and it also happened on May 19 in San Diego. Cronenworth became just the third Padres hitter to record multiple inside-the-park home runs in the same season, joining Gene Richards in 1982 and Tony Gwynn Jr. in 2010. Neither of those two did so against the same team.

Aug. 16: Rockies 6, Padres 5 -- Can't Weather the storm
Three weeks ago, Padres left-hander Ryan Weathers had never allowed five runs in a big league appearance. After surrendering five in four innings at Coors Field, Weathers has now done so in four straight outings. He became the first Padres pitcher to allow at least five earned runs in four straight starts since Clayton Richard did so in 2013.

Aug. 15: Padres 8, D-backs 2 -- Two for Tatis
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit two home runs in the series finale and has five multihomer games this season. For his career, Tatis has eight multihomer games.

Aug. 14: D-backs 7, Padres 0 -- Padres' season comes full circle
The Padres are the first team since the 2015 Cubs to throw a no-hitter and be no-hit in the same year.

Aug. 13: D-backs 3, Padres 2 -- Frazier extends hitting streak
Adam Frazier has hit safely in nine consecutive games and is batting .371 (13-for-35) in that span.

Aug. 12: D-backs 12, Padres 3 -- Pham since the break
Tommy Pham, who led off the game with a double and scored on Adam Frazier's triple, has 19 hits, 18 runs scored and nine RBIs with 10 walks in his last 23 games. He has 102 strikeouts this season, tied for second-most on the team with Fernando Tatis Jr.

Aug. 11: Marlins 7, Padres 0 -- Weathers picks off another
Despite his struggles on Wednesday afternoon, Ryan Weathers recorded his eighth pickoff of the season, nabbing Isan Díaz, who had strayed too far from first base. Weathers -- who learned his move from pickoff wizard Andy Pettitte, his dad's former teammate -- is the first 21-year-old to record at least eight pickoffs in a season since Fernando Valenzuela picked off 12 runners in 1982.

Aug. 10: Padres 6, Marlins 5 -- Sweet 17
Tuesday's victory -- San Diego's fourth straight -- moved the Padres 17 games above .500 for the first time this season. In fact, it's been more than a decade since the Padres have reached this kind of high-water mark. The last time they were at least 17 games above .500 came on the final day of their 90-72 season in 2010.

Aug. 9: Padres 8, Marlins 3 -- Manny tacks on another run
After a slow start to his 2021 season, Manny Machado has been red-hot for about two months now. Since the start of July, Machado leads the Majors with 31 runs scored -- and he tacked on another in the Padres' victory.

Aug. 8: Padres 2, D-backs 0 -- Snell's sensational slider
Blake Snell’s slider was exceptional in the series finale. He got 19 whiffs on the pitch, the most swing-and-misses on sliders by a Padres pitcher in a game this season. Only one MLB pitcher has had more in a game this year -- the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who had 22 slider whiffs twice, on both May 14 vs. the Marlins and June 27 vs. the Cubs. Overall, Snell had 25 swing-and-misses, tied with James Shields on April 27, 2015, for the second most in a game by a Padres pitcher since pitch tracking began in 2008. Joe Musgrove had 27 on April 19 vs. the Brewers.

Aug. 7: Padres 6, D-backs 2 -- Manny leads 20-somethings
With Mike Trout having turned 30, the mantle of the active player under 30 with the most hits falls to … Manny Machado. At 29 years, 32 days old, the Padres’ third baseman has 1,376 career hits, including a first-inning home run off right-hander Taylor Widener and an eighth-inning go-ahead single off righty Brett de Geus.

Aug. 6: D-backs 8, Padres 5 -- Six-spot a Snakes specialty
The Padres allowed six runs in the fourth inning, matching the most they've surrendered in any inning this season. The other time also came against the D-backs, who scored six runs in the fifth inning on Opening Day at Petco Park. But the Padres pulled out an 8-7 victory in that one.

Aug. 4: Athletics 5, Padres 4 (10 innings) -- Musgrove relies on curveball
Joe Musgrove threw 37 curveballs as he limited the A's to just one run across six innings. It's the most curveballs he's thrown in a single outing. It eclipsed the 31 curveballs that Musgrove threw in his previous outing against the Rockies on July 29, when he pitched seven scoreless innings.

Aug. 3: Padres 8, Athletics 1 -- Snell fires the fastball
Blake Snell threw 76 fastballs in Tuesday's win over the A's, the second-most fastballs he has thrown in a single outing in his career. The fastball accounted for 72.4% of Snell's 105 total pitches, his fourth-highest fastball percentage in a single outing over the course of his 6-year career.

Aug. 1: Padres 8, Rockies 1 -- Kim's HR a Petco milestone
Ha-Seong Kim became the latest Padres shortstop to homer, launching a no-doubt solo blast into the second deck in left field to start the bottom of the sixth inning. It was the 1,200th home run by a Padres hitter at Petco Park.