Esteban Quiroz’s walkoff single lifts Padres over Rangers 4-3
Credit: Padres
Peoria Sports Complex – Peoria, Arizona
The Texas Rangers took the lead in the top of the ninth inning, but Esteban Quiroz‘s walk-off double in the bottom half of the inning secured the 4-3 victory for the San Diego Padres.
Padres starter Zach Davies pitched four innings of shutout ball while striking out five Rangers. The right-hander allowed back-to-back singles in the fourth inning, but a pickoff of Elvis Andrus and a groundball out by Joey Gallo got Davies out of the inning unscathed.
Also pitching four innings was Rangers starter Corey Kluber. However, unlike Davies, Kluber didn’t escape the game unscathed as he surrendered one run on two hits while getting two strikeouts in the game.
San Diego didn’t collect a base hit until the bottom of the fourth inning when Tommy Pham led the inning off with a double against Kluber. Pham advanced to third on a groundball out and scored the first run of the game on an Eric Hosmer sacrifice fly.
After a scoreless inning from Drew Pomeranz, the Rangers scratched their first run of the game on Gallo’s RBI-double off of Craig Stammen in the sixth inning.
However, the Padres took the lead right back a half-inning later. With Jurickson Profar standing on first base, Wil Myers put a charge into a 1-1 pitch from Brett Martin and sent it into deep center field. While it didn’t leave the yard, the ball clattered off the wall while Myers scampered around the bases for a standup RBI-triple.
Wil with the wheels ?#PadresST pic.twitter.com/ZbJjjGc51q
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 7, 2020
Luis Perdomo kept the Padres in the lead by tossing two scoreless innings, but San Diego was unable to extend their modest one-run lead.
David Bednar was sent out in the ninth inning to protect the one-run lead, but three straight base hits and a wild pitch spotted the visiting Rangers a 3-2 lead. Bednar struck out Tim Federowicz and Blake Swihart to escape the inning.
San Diego had their backs to the wall but got two men on with two outs. Juan Lagares tied the game up at 3-3 with a single that drove in Franchy Cordero. Quiroz, who is fighting his right to be on the 26-man roster, finished the Rangers off with a single to left field to score the winning run.
The Padres will travel to Salt Rivers Field to face the Arizona Diamondbacks at 12:10 PST. Joey Lucchesi will take the mound for the Friars in his bid to secure the fifth spot in the rotation.
I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.