It’s been a long time since Padres fans have had something to cheer about. They made up for lost time on Opening Day 2019.
The Friar Faithful got loud during the pregame player introductions, giving a warm welcome to $300 million third baseman Manny Machado.
They got louder when super-prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. lined a single to left field in his first career Major League at-bat (by the way, the last player who was younger than the 20-year-old Tatis to get a hit on Opening Day was Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.).
They got louder still when Wil Myers hit a 456-foot laser onto the beach in right-centerfield off Giants ace Madison Bumgarner for the first run of the season.
But the loudest applause of them all came when Kirby Yates got the final out of a 2-0 shutout, the Padres’ first Opening Day win under skipper Andy Green. In fact, this is the first time in Green’s big league managerial career he’s had a winning record.
Eric Lauer, the somewhat surprising choice to be the Opening Day starting pitcher, showed it was a darn good choice. The lefty with just 23 career MLB starts tossed 6.0 shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out three. After he left four Padres relievers combined to preserve the shutout.
Myers drove in both Padres runs. Their second score came in the sixth inning. Ian Kinsler led off with a double for his first hit in a San Diego uniform and scored on a Myers single up the middle.
It was not the best debut Machado could have had. He struck out twice and grounded into a double play but did make two solid defensive plays. Tatis finished with a pair of hits (by the way, the last player who was younger to have multiple knocks on Opening Day was Hall of Famer Robin Yount) and showed his defensive range with a nice running catch into left field to end the 8th inning.
With all the hype surrounding this team, this was more than just a win. This was, in a way, validation that the buzz and excitement this franchise has generated just might be deserved.
