After a thrilling 6-4 win over the division-rival Giants, the San Diego Padres looked to win their third straight game.

It would not play out that way.

After allowing three runs early, the Padres would be unable to claw out of the early deficit. Joe Musgrove started his second game of the season and was uncharacteristically out of sync again, surrendering four runs on eight hits over 5 ⅔ innings. He walked one and struck out three, and as our fellow EVT writer Clark Fahrenthold noted, Musgrove’s velocity was down on all of his pitches. Despite allowing three runs in the first inning, Musgrove did enough to keep the Padres in the game.

Offensively, the Padres’ bats had five extra-base hits out of their nine total hits. However, they were unable to create many scoring opportunities, having only one at-bat with runners in scoring position. The Padres did manage to hit three home runs in the game, one by Manny Machado and two from Fernando Tatis Jr.

The Giants struck first, with a Matt Chapman home run putting San Francisco up by the score of 2-0. Thairo Estrada added another run with a single to right field. The game would remain 3-0 until Jung Hoo Lee hit a dribbler up the middle to drive in Patrick Bailey from second base, making the score 4-0 Giants in the fourth inning. That would account for the four runs allowed by Padres starter Joe Musgrove.

San Diego would fight back in the bottom of the frame against Giants starter Kyle Harrison, with a Manny Machado home run making the score 4-1. Looking to spark a rally in the fifth inning, Eguy Rosario laced a double off Harrison but would be thrown out at third base in an attempt to stretch the hit into a triple.

In the sixth, Stephen Kolek replaced Musgrove after a two-out single, getting out of the inning without allowing any further runs to come across. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the bottom of the inning with his first home run of the season, making it a 4-2 ballgame. San Diego would not bring another run across against Harrison, who allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, striking out five Friars.

In the seventh, with Kolek still on the mound, a double by Matt Chapman would drive in Jorge Soler to make it 5-2, and despite another reliever warming up, Mike Shildt left Kolek out to face Wilmer Flores, who would drive in another run to make the score 6-2. Giants righty Landen Roupp, in his Major League debut, would deliver a scoreless seventh inning, with Enyel De Los Santos delivering a scoreless top of the eighth for the home team.

With Tyler Rogers on the mound for the bottom of the eighth, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his second home run of the game to make it a 6-3 game. Jake Cronenworth was then hit by a pitch, and, with the tying run in the on-deck circle, Manny Machado hit a ball 108.7 miles per hour. Unfortunately for San Diego, the ball was hit on the ground to Giants second baseman Thairo Estrada, who began an inning-ending double play.

With the game now in a save situation, Mike Shildt made the choice to bring in Pedro Avila instead of a high-leverage arm. The decision would backfire, as Matt Chapman would hit his second two-run home run of the day to bring the score to 8-3. With the game now out of slam range, Giants reliever Ryan Walker induced a double play and groundout to end the game, marking the Giants’ first win of the season.

Tomorrow, the series continues with a pair of fire-balling right-handers making their team debuts. Dylan Cease starts on the mound for the Padres (2-2), while Jordan Hicks toes the slab for San Francisco (1-1). The first pitch will be at 4:15 pm Pacific Time on Fox.

Diego Garcia

I am a proud lifetime San Diegan. Currently a student at San Diego State, I’ve been a Padres & baseball fan my entire life, and have been involved with baseball (be it writing, coaching, content creation) continuously since 2018. I’m big on baseball statistics, statistical analysis, and sports strategy.

Outside of sports and baseball, I’m a musician and aspiring music educator residing in San Diego