Mariners rough up Paddack, beat Padres 8-3

Petco Park – San Diego, California 

The San Diego Padres lost the opener of the series 8-3 to the Seattle Mariners and fell to (18-13) on the season. Chris Paddack gave up six earned runs, and the Friars offense couldn’t close the gap on a young Seattle lineup.

San Diego had the day off Monday after sweeping the state of Texas and winning their last seven-straight games against the Rangers and Houston Astros.

The Padres started their second half of the season in the Vedder Cup versus the Mariners in which they continue their play against AL West opponents. The Padres earned the Vedder Cup last season as they won two out of three games.

The Sheriff was in town as Chris Paddack got the nod for the Padres and started his seventh game of the season.

It was early troubles, though, as Seattle jumped out to a quick lead to start the game. Paddack walked leadoff-hitter JP Crawford, and Mariners’ rising-star Kyle Lewis singled to right two batters later. Kyle Seager stepped up to the plate and knocked in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center. Back-to-back hits by Austin Nola and Evan White scored Lewis, and the Mariners headed to the bottom half of the first inning up 2-0.

Paddack started the second inning, forcing Tim Lopes to ground out. But Dee Gordon followed with a single, and then Crawford drilled a 420-foot home run to dead center, and Seattle had the 4-0 advantage. Crawford saw the 93-mph-fastball coming right down the middle and couldn’t resist as he mashed his first home run of the season.

Paddack has no issue throwing in the strike zone. Sometimes he gets a little too carried away and misplaces his fastball in the zone. Great hitters will always take advantage of mislocated pitches.

It was going to take a comeback for the Padres, but fortunately, that is something they are familiar with. The Friars have 12 come-from-behind wins this season.

Major League Baseball awarded Manny Machado the Player of the Week of the National League, and he displayed his case once again Tuesday night.

Players of the Week don’t rest on their laurels 🌟#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/Qz6VBpzzmk

— Slam Diego Padres (@Padres) August 26, 2020

Machado hit .393 with three homers and nine RBIs over the seven-game win streak. Don’t forget he had the walk-off grand slam against the Rangers in game-three of that series. Despite the production on offense, his defense is what the Padres value the most as he continues to take hits away from the left side of the field.

Speaking of the reigning Player of the Week, Machado singled to right-center in the third inning for his second knock of the game. Right fielder Jake Fraley lost track of the ball, and Machado was able to advance to second. Eric Hosmer stepped up next and launched a sky-high moonshot to right field just over the fence for a 2-run home run. The Padres cut the lead in half, and the score was 4-2.

PAPO 💪

(via @Padres)pic.twitter.com/vrHkdySO9U

— Fox Sports Slam Diego (@FOXSportsSD) August 26, 2020

San Diego was not finished! Back-to-back doubles by Wil Myers and Ty France cut the lead to one, and the Friars were right back in the ballgame. Myers showed off great hustle as he took his chances rounding first base for the double on what would have been single for most hitters.

The score was 4-3 going to the fourth inning.

Despite the early struggle from Paddack, he managed to retire 11 Mariners in a row and was back into his groove. Through five innings, The Sheriff struck out seven but raised his pitch count to 87 pitches.

Chris Paddack’s first 11 hitters: 4 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Chris Paddack’s last 11 hitters: all outs, 6 Ks

— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) August 26, 2020

In the sixth inning, Austin Nola immediately ended Paddack’s streak as he hit a home run to left field. Evan White followed with a double off the glove of Jurickson Profar in deep left-center field, and that would do it for Paddack’s outing. He was replaced in a 5-3 game giving up eight hits and a walk.

Lefty Tim Hill came in for relief with still zero outs in the inning. Hill was able to get two quick outs and was close to bailing out Paddack’s runner on second. But Crawford continued his hot game with a double on the first pitch of the at-bat, and the runner scored, increasing the Seattle lead to 6-3.

The Mariners added two more runs in the seventh off pitchers Javy Guerra, and Pierce Johnson, and the score was 8-3.

The Padres hit their 10th hit of the game in the bottom half of the seventh inning off the single by Machado. The following Friars were not able to get him in to score as they had left eight runners on base.

Machado tried to start a rally in the ninth with a triple off the right-field wall, but it wasn’t enough as the final score was 8-3.

The winning streak ends at seven, but San Diego will look to start a new streak tomorrow night as they face right-hander Taijuan Walker. Dinelson Lamet will be on the mound for the Padres. Lamet is 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA on the season.

The game starts at 6:10 p.m.

Game Notes

• Chris Paddack raised his ERA to 5.15 on the season. He had a 1.55 ERA through seven starts in 2019.
• Manny Machado ended 4-for-5 with three singles and a triple. El Ministro improved his average to .280 on the season.
• Fernando Tatis Jr. had a rare off-game. He went hitless in five at-bats lowering his average to .301 in 2020.
• Michel Baez looked sharp in relief for the eighth and ninth inning. Baez struck out four while walking one batter.
• Austin Nola finished 3-for-5 with his fifth homer of the season.
• JP Crawford ended the game 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs, and a walk.
• Evan White finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris is also an athlete and is huge fan of San Diego sports. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and contributes regularly about the Padres.