SAN DIEGO -- The Padres rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Nationals on Tuesday night, keeping pace with the Diamondbacks in the National League Wild Card race.
Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park:
A ferocious rally … when they desperately needed it
The Padres trailed by three entering the eighth inning and struggled to get much of anything going over the first seven innings against a Nationals bullpen game. They were down. But they weren’t out.
After loading the bases with a trio of walks, Austin Hays got one back with a sacrifice fly, before Manny Machado tied the game with a two-run single.
A couple of batters later, Luis Campusano’s broken-bat bloop landed in no-man’s land in right-center field, plating the go-ahead run. Adrian Morejon nailed down the save, with Mason Miller unavailable.
It was a win the Padres needed desperately, after the Diamondbacks’ 11-inning win in Kansas City. The two NL West rivals remain tied in the loss column, with Arizona on top by half a game in the race for the final Wild Card spot.
This was the version of Mize the Padres traded for
His final line is harsh. But Casey Mize was mostly excellent on Tuesday night. His splitter was nasty; he induced whiffs with nine of the 15 that he threw. His command was solid, striking out seven, his most in a Padres uniform.
Before the fateful sixth inning, the only run Mize allowed came on Yohandy Morales’ solo homer. That came on a sinker nearly a foot off the inside corner that Morales turned on and hit to the Western Metal Building.
Maybe the only downside of Mize’s outing was that he was so sharp and so efficient that Stammen was convinced to let him return for the sixth. Mize would put two men aboard, before departing -- and both of those runs would come around to score.
Another Manny milestone
Machado already holds the Padres' home run record. But he’s probably not getting anywhere close to first place on the rest of the franchise’s offensive leaderboards. Tony Gwynn has a pretty good grasp on most of those records.
But Machado is solidifying himself as the next best hitter -- possibly even the next best player -- in franchise history. On Tuesday night, he moved past Garry Templeton into sole possession of second place on the franchise hits list.
And that was before he delivered his clutch two-run, game-tying single in the bottom of the eighth inning -- after an outstanding eight-pitch at-bat. That was his 1,137th hit with the Padres, now two more than Templeton.
Maybe the most remarkable part of that number? He’s still got more than 2,000 to go before he reaches Gwynn’s 3,141.