Yu Darvish and Sean Manaea opened the year with 13 combined hitless innings. On Saturday night Joe Musgrove took the mound. You may have heard he's the only Padre ever to throw a no-hitter, in 2021 ... on April 9.
No-No Joe didn't celebrate the anniversary with another one in Arizona but he threw well enough for the Padres to win 5-2.
Musgrove allowed a bloop single to Ketel Marte on the 2nd batter of the game, the first hit a Friars starter has allowed this year. While there wasn't more history in the cards, Musgrove was really good. He went 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.
The Padres offense hasn't broken loose yet but it was better that the first two outings. In the 3rd, Manny Machado pulled a double just inside the bag at 3rd base that allowed Matt Beaty to score from 1st. Machado came home on an RBI single by Jake Cronenworth to put the Padres on top 2-1.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
In the 6th inning Musgrove left a pitch up and David Peralta, who had driven in Marte with a double in the 1st inning, lofted it into the left-centerfield seats for a solo shot that tied the game 2-2. Somewhat Curiously, Musgrove didn't get to throw the 7th inning. He'd only thrown 74 pitches but skipper Bob Melvin wanted to get some of his other arms a bit of work.
The 7th belonged to rookie Steven Wilson, who brought some serious stuff to his Major League debut. Wilson struck out Seth Beer with a 96-MPH fastball up in the zone that looked like gravity had zero affect on. Wilson threw a scoreless frame and ended up adding his first big league win to his resume.
In the top of the 8th, against former Padre Ian Kennedy, Machado led off with a single then stole 2nd and moved to 3rd on a wild pitch. Luke Voit walked (his 4th walk in three games) and, with the infield in, Eric Hosmer hit a hard grounder that just got past Marte at 2nd base.
Local
Had the infield been at normal depth it probably would have been a double play. Instead it brought home the go-ahead run. Austin Nola followed with a sacrifice fly to make it a 4-2 San Diego lead.
Pierce Johnson handled a scoreless 8th inning and in the 9th we saw some more fun history. Shortstop C.J. Abrams, the Padres top prospect who played his way onto the Opening Day roster at the age of 21, lined a single to left field off former Padres closer Mark Melancon for his first Major League hit.
He took 2nd on a passed ball then moved to 3rd on a groundout by Trent Grisham. Arizona brought the infield in again and another rookie, Jose Azocar, made them pay again with a liner past Marte for his first MLB knock. Abrams scored to give the Friars a 5-2 lead.
Taylor Rogers came out to try and lock down back-to-back saves. He's turning out to be a pretty good addition. Rogers worked a perfect 9th to secure another Padres win.
San Diego can win the season's opening series on Sunday afternoon with Blake Snell on the mound against Caleb Smith.
LISTEN: With NBC 7 San Diego's Darnay Tripp and Derek Togerson behind the mic, On Friar will cover all things San Diego Padres. Interviews, analysis, behind-the-scenes...the ups, downs, and everything in between. Tap here to find On Friar wherever you listen to podcasts.
