SAN DIEGO – Solo home runs by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado got the offense going, and another sterling bullpen effort saw the San Diego Padres through in a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night at Petco Park.
San Diego’s (50-43) ‘Four Horsemen,’ a nickname recently coined by manager Mike Shildt during postgame comments, pitched the final 4 ⅔ innings with Adrian Morejon earning his seventh win and Robert Suarez notching his 27th save.
“Adrian’s been tremendous and fantastic in the ability to use him, and him to be as efficient as he has allows us to use him more,” Shildt said after noting the bullpen has been a calling card for the team. “Also (Morejon’s) ability to be flexible where he pitches, mentally… he earned what I believe to be is the league lead in wins for relievers, so the guy has been lights out.”
Machado, who was DH for the night, led off the fifth with a blast to left field for his 16th home run of the season, then Gavin Sheets singled to end Arizona (46-48) starter Eduardo Rodriguez’s night. Xander Bogaerts welcomed reliever Juan Morillo by yanking an inside changeup down the third base line for a double and a 4-2 Padres lead.
“That’s what we need, we’re aiming for it and if we really want to do it as a team we need offense,” Tatis said when asked about him and Machado getting hot. “We’re definitely going to find a way. We’ve been here before, all of us, (so) we’re going to keep going out there, trying to put good at bats and we’re not going to back down.”
Jason Adam allowed a run on two hits and a walk in the seventh inning, with Geraldo Perdomo’s RBI double the only hit with runners in scoring position by Arizona in 10 at bats. Jeremiah Estrada allowed a hit and strikeout and Suarez notched a strikeout in another perfect ninth.
San Diego had their eighth multi-home run game at Petco Park of the season and just the second since hitting a pair against Miami on May 27.
“(The power) showed up just in time, the offensive at bats were really good. We’ve still got to figure out a way to add on when we have opportunities and not do too much,” Shildt said.
After hitting 11 home runs over 20 games from May 30 to June 19, since the start of the Kansas City series on June 20 the Friars have sent 17 over the fence in the past 19 games.
Tatis got the offense going for the Padres in the third, working the count full before crunching Rodriguez’s low cutter 420 feet to straight away center field for his 16th round-tripper. They would tie the game 2-2 an inning later when Jackson Merrill led off with a walk and Jose Iglesias singled him to third, allowing Jake Cronenworth to collect an RBI on an infield groundout.
While starter Randy Vásquez struggled at times with control, he was able to limit the damage from his four walks (just the second time since walking five on May 3 that he allowed more than three freebies) and the three doubles by Diamondbacks hitters.
The lone damage came in the third inning when Jake McCarthy walked to lead off and Alek Thomas doubled. Both came home on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Jose Herrera and Corbin Carroll. Then with the bases loaded after a Perdomo double and intentional walk to Josh Naylor, Vásquez got Eugenio Suárez to pop out.
Ketel Marte cracked a double in the fifth and Perdomo followed with a walk, ending the San Diego starter’s night as Morejon came on to record the last two outs on a strikeout and pop out and keep Arizona at 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Vásquez finished with 4 ⅓ innings, with five hits, two runs, four walks and a strikeout, taking the no-decision for his ninth consecutive start. Rodriguez took his sixth loss of the season for Arizona, giving up eight runs and four hits, three strikeouts and two walks in four innings of work.
“We’ve done this recipe, and I know it’s not something we can replicate every day,” Shildt said. “It presented itself tonight in the fifth, especially in high leverage in the middle of their order in a tight ballgame, we’re going to take our shot when we can, some nights other guys have to pick it up…
“Tonight we had the opportunity where going in we knew Adrian could get one-plus in that part of the order and he did just that.”
Morejon held the D-Backs off the board in the sixth, allowing a one out McCarthy hit and a walk to pinch hitter Randal Grichuk, but Martín Maldonado threw out Grichuk at second on a double steal. McCarthy was left at third as Jose Herrera took a called third strike on an inside sinker.
After splitting the four-game series against the Diamondbacks, the Padres find themselves half a game back of the San Francisco Giants for the final NL Wild Card. San Francisco begins a three-game series against the division leading Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.
“The entire division has been playing good baseball, so every win we can get in the division is huge,” Tatis said.
Ryan Bergert (1-0, 2.67 ERA) returns to the lineup and is slated to start the first game against the Philadelphia Phillies and Ranger Suárez (7-2, 1.99 ERA), with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. on Friday at Petco Park.
This story was updated at 10:32 p.m.