If this is going to be the way the Padres finish off every series offensively in 2024 then Sundays are going to be VERY fun for San Diego baseball fans. They scored 15 runs in their final game in Korea against the Dodgers and darn near matched that on Sunday against the Giants.
The Friars exploded for 13 runs, scoring 12 of them in the first three innings, in a 13-4 win to split their 4-game series at Petco Park.
San Diego jumped all over Giants starter Daulton Jeffries in the 1st inning with some help from San Francisco's offense. Xander Bogaerts reached on an error by shortstop Tyler FItzgerald, moved to 3rd base on a loud ground rule double by Fernando Tatis Jr., and scored on a passed ball that hit catcher Patrick Bailey right in the facemask. Then the Padres did some damage on their own.
Manny Machado laced an RBI double to right-centerfield to make it 2-0. Just like they did in Seoul, they decided to open with a 5-spot. Ha-Seong Kim singled to put two runners on for Luis Campusano, who is off to a tremendous start. Campy lofted the first pitch he saw into the Petco Porch down the right field line for a 3-run homer.
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That was just an appetizer.
In the 2nd inning Jake Cronenworth smoked a double to right field to bring home Jackson Merrill. Two batters later Kim unloaded on his first homer of the year, a 3-run blast to make it a 9-0 game, which you'd figure would be enough. But scoring runs is fun!
When Graham Pauley, the rookie who made his first big league start at 3rd base, led off the 3rd inning with a single everyone in the Padres starting lineup had a base hit. Fellow rookie Jackson Merrill lined a double down the left field line and Pauley showed off some decent speed, scoring all the way from 1st base and giving the Padres a double digit run day for the second time this season. It took them 16 games to do that a year ago. Machado tacked on two more with a double that landed halfway up the wall in right field.
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The run scoring gluttony overshadowed a strange start for Michael King. In his first Padres start the righty only allowed two runs on two hits and struck out seven over 4.0 innings. But, he walked seven San Francisco hitters, by far a career-high. For comparison, last year in New York, King walked seven batters in September (over 27.1 innings).
Pedro Avila followed King and did exactly what the Padres needed him to do: just don't let the Giants have a pulse. Avila tossed 3.0 innings, allowing two runs with two strikeouts. Yuki Matsui handled a scoreless 8th and before Wandy Peralta came on to get the last three outs, Campusano finished his monster day at the plate.
Facing Giants backup shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, Campy lined a single to right to bring in Kim. It was the catcher's 3rd hit and 4th RBI of the day. He's off to a torrid start, hitting .391 with an even 1.000 OPS over five games.
San Diego is back to .500 on the year and welcomes the St. Louis Cardinals to town to start a 3-game series on Monday night. Knuckleballer Matt Waldron will make his first start of the season against Cardinals veteran Kyle Gibson.
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