The Padres have no more room for error.
They've dug themselves such a huge hole in the standings that when they play a team that's not very good they have to win the series, if not come away with a sweep. The Detroit Tigers are not very good.
Friday night was a solid start for San Diego.
Juan Soto ripped a pair of home runs and high octane reliever Robert Suarez finally made his season debut in a 5-4 win to open a weekend series at Comerica Park.
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Soto got the scoring started when Tigers rookie Reese Olson left a fastball up in the 1st inning. The slugging left fielder ripped it 447 feet to right-center for his 18th homer of the season and a 1-0 lead. Jake Cronenworth added a 2-run triple in the 1st to pump the lead up to 3-zip. In the 3rd inning. Olson tried to throw another heater up in the strike zone.
That was not smart.
Soto pummeled it 463 feet to left-center, a 2-run blast to make it 5-0 San Diego and give Seth Lugo a nice cushion. The veteran right-hander knows what to do with a lead. Lugo tossed 6.0 innings of 2-run ball, striking out seven Detroit hitters.
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But, the bullpen started faltering again. Nick Martinez allowed a 2-run homer to Riley Greene that cut the lead to a perilous 5-4. Then, the boost the relief corps has been waiting for all season took the mound. Suarez, who's been out since Spring Training with an elbow issue, worked the 8th and showed zero signs of rust. He threw 11 pitches, eight for strikes, and his fastball was hitting 99 MPH as he breezed through a 1-2-3 inning. Josh Hader handles a perfect 9th to lock down the win.
This is the scenario the Padres have failed in so many times this year. Finally having their 8th inning specialist (and potential closer of the future) back will certainly not hurt as they try and climb back into the playoff race.
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