The last time Joe Musgrove pitched in New York he was dominating the Mets with 7.0 shutout innings. He was so good that Mets manager Buck Showalter asked for his shiny ears to be checked, which only upset Joe more as the Padres won their National League Wild Card series.
On Friday night at Yankee Stadium his lobes weren't as lustrous but his stuff was nearly as good. Musgrove retired the first 11 Yankees he faced and got support from a pair of mammoth home runs from Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. to pace the Padres to a 5-1 win in The Bronx, their 4th victory in the last five games.
If they keep doing this then the Padres are, in fact, who we thought they were.
Musgrove has been rounding himself into shape after missing nearly all of Spring Training with a broken toe. This was far and away the best he's looked in 2023. Joe allowed just one run in 6.1 innings with six strikeouts and no walks. He had all his pitches working and when that happens, he's awfully tough to beat, especially when some of San Diego's other All-Stars show up.
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The Padres were having some trouble against Yankees righty Randy Vasquez, who was making his Major League debut. They finally broke through in the 5th inning when Vasquez gave Soto a pitch up in the strike zone, which is never a good idea. The red-hot left fielder smoked it 432 feet into the upper deck in right field for his 10th homer of the year to give the Padres a 2-0 lead.
An inning later New York had Ron Marinaccio on the mound to face Tatis Jr. The Yankees might as well as sent Ralph Macchio out there. Tatis Jr. ripped a missile into the upper deck in left field, a 439-foot shot that was accompanied by a bat flip that nearly landed in the Padres on-deck circle. That was also a 2-run shot to put the Padres on top 4-0 and that was plenty.
Steven Wilson, was fabulous, getting five outs on 22 pitches and in the 9th Rougned Odor continued his hot streak with an RBI single to score Soto. That made it a 5-1 game. That's not a save situation. Bob Melvin was not going to mess around with it.
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Josh Hader struck out the side in the 9th inning to secure a win that, honestly, feels a little bit different. This is the first time all year that I can remember the Padres feeling like the team that can beat anyone on any given night.
San Diego can win the series on Saturday afternoon with Michael Wacha on the mound against Luis Severino.
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