Padres exhibit ‘hunger’ walk away Dodgers in an electric and playoff-like atmosphere

San Diego The Padres are on the lookout for it.

By AJ Cassavell

31 July 2024 at 06:56 am

San Diego The Padres are going after it. Over the last three days they’ve clearly stated their intentions and have traded nine of their prospects including six of their top 12 prospects — to strengthen their roster of big league players.

What’s the reason they are opting for it? Because of nights like this one.

In front of a record attendance in Petco Park, San Diego recovered from a five-run deficit to take a thrilling 6-5 win against the home team Dodgers over 10 innings Tuesday evening. Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill homered off closer Blake Treinen in the bottom of the ninth inning -and Machado who scored his third homer of the game. Donovan Solano won it in the 10th inning with an unearned walk-off hit in the left-field corner.

“That,” Merrill would declare afterward, “was a real baseball game. “

It was the culmination of an eventful Deadline Day that saw the Padres include lefty relief star Tanner Scott to an already-excellent bullpen bullpen that put up six scoreless innings following the starter Matt Waldron had surrendered five runs (all in the upper third of the).

Padres didn’t use recently acquired right-hander Jason Adam, and they’re still waiting for three new pitchers -three of them: right-hander Brian Hoeing, Scott Bryan Hoeing, a right-handed pitcher and veteran left-hander Martin Perez. But in a sense the team’s win on Tuesday was pre-planned by these acquisitions. The manager Mike Shildt could maneuver aggressively by utilizing Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon when his team was trailing by two late runs.

“That’s the kind of thing you could do with bullpens that are deep,” Shildt told the AP.

added Merrill: “Our bullpen dominated this evening — and then add three, two more items? That’s pretty fun.”

Do not look now and San Diego’s gap to the NL West is down to 5 1/2 games. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts -who was left with nothing as he tried to alter the pitching order in the 10th inningsappears to believe the race is now on.

“Absolutely,” he stated. “It’s 5 1/2 today. They’ve added some more and they’re happy and playing excellent baseball. Most likely, during through July was the best of baseball as any player in the Major Leagues. They’re definitely feeling proud of themselves, without doubt. We’ve been given [Dylan”Dylan” Cease on the horizon and we’re juggling a lot of balls once more.”

Padres closing Robert Suarez worked a clean at the top of the 10th innings and set the stage for Solano’s heroics during the bottom third. But that only occurred after a mistake by Roberts as well as the Dodgers team’s coaching staff.

Shildt had asked for Solano to serve as a pinch-hitter to Jake Cronenworth, prompting a mound visit by Dodgers coaching manager Mark Prior. Immediately following, Roberts attempted to make an adjustment to his pitching — something that isn’t permitted during a mound check.

The Padres got the game they wanted the left-handed Alex Vesia facing Solano, who also received a ball in exchange for the Dodgers delayed. Solano fell behind 2-1 before hitting the game’s most decisive hit to the left-field line. The audience of 47,559 — the biggest ever in Petco Park’s history was whipped into a frenzy The remarkable comeback was complete.

“This is the kind of fun teams, teams that are highly competitive and teams that have a lot of energy do,” Shildt said. “Regardless the situation, they simply have to compete.”

Shildt’s decision to pinch hit in place of Cronenworth was at the very least uncommon. Cronenworth has struggled against left-handers, yes. But he’s also the team’s number. 3 hitter, and He did create one of the most significant smashes of Padres the history of Padres against a lefty in particular.

However, the game required Solano -left-handed right-handed hitter who is contact-oriented who is a great player in any situation. Cronenworth retreated to the dugout in which he sat with his manager, who was watching the game. He was also one of the first players to meet Solano on the dirt infield following the walk-off.

“I was fully prepared for the game,” Cronenworth said. “But I’m saying you, listen, I’m certainly not upset about it. I totally understand it. I’m here to be successful.”

More than anything else, Solano’s pinch hit at-bat was a reflection of the strength of this team as such a hitter as Solano could be found off the bench at all times. The Padres are still waiting for their return to Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field. The offense is largely complete.

In this way General director A.J. Preller could use his entire chip towards pitching prior to the deadline on Tuesday. After an 8-2 road trip that took him through Cleveland, Washington and Baltimore it was clear that he’d take action.

“What we’ve accomplished over the past couple of weeksand particularly after the All-Star break — is to put ourselves in the position to give A.J. do what the guy does,” Cronenworth said. “And the guys he brought in will be coming into the room and really assist us.”