When Padres star and leadoff batter Fernando Tatis Jr. managed to hit a double in his first at-bat versus the Diamondbacks on Friday, it looked like it might turn out to be a fun, competitive game.
Those hopes were short-lived.
Tatis’ base hit wound up leading to the only run that San Diego scored on the night, as the Diamondbacks beat the Padres 5-1 at Chase Field.
Things started off promisingly. Tatis, after hitting the aforementioned double on the very first pitch of the game, scored the Friars’ only run moments later thanks to a sacrifice fly by Luis Arráez.
Tatis initially stopped at third base after the catch in centerfield, but Arizona third baseman Eugenio Suarez failed to nab the ball when it was thrown in to him, and the error gave Tatis the opening a break for home. That turned out to be San Diego’s only offensive highlight.
Arizona scored its first run when first baseman Josh Naylor opened the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run over the outstretched arm of Tatis in right field.
The Diamondbacks then took a 2-1 lead when shortstop Geraldo Perdomo hit a single that drove in Corbin Carroll, who had been on second base, and sent Ketel Marte, who had been on first, to third.
But after a fairly solid four innings from San Diego starter Stephen Kolek, things unraveled in the bottom of the fifth.
Carroll scored his second run of the night on a solo homer that Padres utility man Tyler Wade couldn’t quite nab in the outfield.
The knock, which gave Arizona a 3-1 lead, was Carroll’s 20th home run of the year, making it his third straight season with 20 or more homers.
Naylor hit a sacrifice fly to centerfielder Jackson Merrill that led to a run by Ketel Marte, who had been on third. Arizona’s lead widened to 5-1 when Perdomo scored on a single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
At that point, Padres manager Mike Shildt had seen enough. He sent in six-foot-eight Sean Reynolds to replace Kolek in the bottom of the fifth.
Arizona didn’t score again. But it turned out that they didn’t need to.
San Diego (38-30) has now lost three of its last four games, all to divisional opponents. Meanwhile, Arizona (35-34) has won its last four, to climb above .500 for the first time since
May 23.
“It’s been a tough season up to this point, but I’m proud of the guys, they’ve really begun to rally,” Carroll said in a postgame interview. “To be able to be back over .500 is awesome.”
The three-game series, which continues Saturday and Sunday, is important in the National League West standings.
The Padres had been second in the NL West before dropping two out of three at home against the Dodgers earlier in the week.
San Diego’s now in third place, just ahead of the Diamondbacks and behind the Dodgers and Giants, who are tied for the divisional lead, with identical 41-29 records, after San Francisco’s 6-2 win Friday.
If the Padres lose one or both the remaining two games, the team would still be in third place, but Arizona would be in position to leapfrog them in the standings.
First pitch for Saturday’s game is scheduled to 4:15 p.m.; the game will be nationally televised on Fox.
Notes: Starter Yu Darvish, who has been sidelined with right elbow inflammation since spring training, is scheduled to throw a simulated game in the 40-pitch range on Saturday … Bryan Hoeing, who has been out since late March due to a right shoulder strain, is currently on a rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso and is expected to return to the Padres later this month.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
