Nelson Cruz is 42 years old and playing in his 19th Major League season. That's not usually the guy you expect to be batting cleanup and leading a win on the road against one of the best teams in baseball, but here we are.
Cruz had three hits and drove in three runs in the Padres 5-4 win over the Braves on Friday night in Atlanta, pulling the Friars back to the .500 mark at 4-4 and handing the Braves their 2nd loss of the year. Manny Machado had a pair of hits and scored twice while Xander Bogaerts drove in the winning run with what might be the softest hit of the season.
In the 6th inning, with the game tied 5-4, Bogaerts checked his swing but the pitch from Michael Tonkin found the barrel of the bat. It came off at a blistering 69 MPH, not exactly the missiles we've seen Xander driving out of the park in the season's first week, but it snuck its way into right field to bring home Trent Grisham to make it 5-4.
This time the bullpen was able to make it stand up, but there were some dicey moments. Starter Nick Martinez struggled to find his command, walking five Atlanta hitters in 4.2 innings. He was pulled after walking Sean Murphy with the bases loaded in the 5th inning to tied it 4-4. Georgia native Brent Honeywell came up huge to make himself a little bit of history.
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The right-hander from Augusta (where another sporting event you may have heard of is taking place this week) came on and struck out Eddie Rosario to end the threat. He stayed on and went 2.0 shutout innings with three punchouts to get his first big league win, with his parents in the stands to take it in.
Luis Garcia got out of a bases loaded jam of his own to get the ball to Josh Hader. If San Diego can do that consistently this year, they're going to win a lot of games. Hader struck out a pair to get his 2nd save of the year. The Padres can secure at least a split of the 4-game series against another World Series contender on Saturday night when Michael Wacha takes the ball against Charlie Morton.
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