SAN DIEGO -- The Padres kept pace in the National League Wild Card race with a 4-3 victory over the Yankees on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.
They opened the game with back-to-back-to-back home runs for just the second time in franchise history, then got six scoreless innings from Michael King. In the process, San Diego remained half a game back of the Diamondbacks in the race for the final playoff spot in the National League.
Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park:
Power surge from the start
Not only did the Padres begin the game with three straight home runs -- just the 12th time any team has done so in MLB history. They did it against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (who is now the only pitcher to have allowed three straight homers to start a game twice).
Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth hit a pair of opposite-field home runs against Cole to start the game. Then, Manny Machado launched a no-doubter to straightaway center.
The Padres almost made it four, but Ty France flied out to the warning track for the first out against Cole.
Still, Tatis, Cronenworth and Machado joined Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk as Padres’ trios to begin a game with three consecutive home runs. Wynne, Gwynn and Kruk did so on April 13, 1987, marking the first time in MLB history the feat had been achieved.
Luis Campusano tacked on a solo home run in the seventh. The last time the Padres won a game with four runs on four solo homers was also the last time they hit back-to-back-to-back homers -- on Sept. 18, 2024, against Houston.
He’s the King
The last time Cole allowed three straight homers to start a game, the Yankees came back to win in Minnesota on June 9, 2022. Pitching a scoreless eighth inning for New York that day? King.
King has always been quick to credit Cole as his mentor. When King was traded to the Padres in 2023, he transitioned to a full-time starting role, and he used Cole as his reference point. He wanted to be an ace.
A few years later, that’s exactly what King is. He’s been the most reliable presence in a shaky and injury-riddled Padres rotation all season long. Now, it’s crunch time -- and King is riding a 21 2/3 inning scoreless streak after his six innings of four-hit ball on Sunday.
Don’t run on Campusano
What a weekend for Campusano. On Friday, he became the first player in more than 65 years to throw out three basestealers, then hit a walk-off home run.
The Yankees, evidently, did not learn their lesson.
New York climbed back into the game with a three-run eighth inning against Adrian Morejon. With one out, José Caballero pinch-ran as the potential tying run at first base, and he took off on the second pitch.
Campusano nailed him -- marking the fourth Yankees basestealer he’d thrown out in four attempts this weekend.