For the last four games, the San Diego Padres struggled offensively, limping to a 1-3 record in that span.

The team managed to only record two runs in the last four games, including a 1-0 victory on Wednesday afternoon against the Braves.

In Arizona on Thursday, the Padres would welcome back Fernando Tatis Jr. to the lineup. It had been 564 days since the phenom last played a game at the major league level. The Padres desperately needed his presence in the lineup, and it paid dividends immediately.

Though Tatis went 0-for-5 at the plate, the Padres knocked in seven runs and went 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Tatis did have a nice catch in the corner, where he measured a sprint speed of 29.3 feet per second and covered 83 feet.  “He definitely contributed on the night,” Melvin said about Tatis.

The Padres needed this kind of game to gain confidence with the bats.

Trent Grisham and Xander Bogaerts both recorded two hits in the game against Arizona. Bogaerts hit his fifth homer of the year in the third inning and has been massive for the Padres early in the season. Matt Carpenter slugged his second home run of the year. His fourth-inning blast put the Padres up 5-1, and it looked like the game was going to be a laugher. Grisham is heating up and came up with two big hits on Thursday. “He has been huge for us,” Melvin said about Trent Grisham postgame.

On the mound, Michael Wacha struggled. The right-handed pitcher only managed four innings on the night and gave up five earned runs on 10 hits. It took the veteran pitcher 81 pitches to work through four innings as he struggled with his command. Wacha’s ERA is up to 7.08 on the season. His 5-1 lead was blown, and the bullpen would need to step up for the Friars.

Brent Honeywell continues to look impressive out of the pen. The right-handed pitcher went two innings and lowered his ERA to 1.45 on the season. Tim Hill and Steven Wilson also threw scoreless innings.

Josh Hader came on to record his sixth save of the season on Thursday.  “The bullpen was huge. The bullpen was paramount tonight,” Bob Melvin said after the game.

The Padres showed heart tonight and played with a little more passion. They will need this kind of effort the rest of the season to truly live up to the standards which are set for them.

“A lot of good things happened tonight,” Melvin said.

Hopefully, more good things will happen in the future for the San Diego Padres.

James Clark

James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.