Padres win 7-4 over Nationals
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Petco Park- San Diego, California
On July 6, 1992, Manny Machado was born.
29 years later, he is one of the highest-paid players in MLB history and showing why. On his birthday, he went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs, and an RBI. Unfortunately for Machado, his teammates kept trying to steal the spotlight.
One of those teammates being some guy named Fernando Tatis Jr.
No one disputes that at the plate he is one of the best in the league. What makes him one of the most electric players in the game is what he can do elsewhere on the field. Today he was the first to reach the 20-20 mark when he swiped his 2oth bag, good enough for the second-highest in the league. On Monday night, he seemingly floated in the air to catch a line drive.
The one part of his game that people have a problem with is his arm. He leads the league with 18 errors, mostly throwing errors. Well, tonight, he showed why it’s an asset. In the top of the second, he kept the game scoreless when Jurickson Profar, Tatis, and Victor Caratini connected on a textbook relay to gun down Starlin Castro at home.
Perfectly executed. pic.twitter.com/k6I1SAeAjc
— MLB (@MLB) July 7, 2021
Tatis’ throw home clocked in at 95.8 mph. That is the fastest throw by an infielder that resulted in an out.
“The big thing about those, they are such momentum plays, and they can shift one way or another. For us to execute that right, Profar gets to it, gets it to Tatis, who throws a very good long hop in where Victor can handle it and tag it. It just swings momentum. It gives Ryan confidence to get right back in the zone and get going”, Jayce Tingler said of that big play early in the game.
The game would remain scoreless until the fourth inning. That is when yet another Padre tried to outshine Machado on his birthday. This time around, it would be Wil Myers. With two runners on, one being Machado, Myers launched a three-run homer exactly 400 feet.
Unfortunately for the Padres, Josh Harrison hit his own three-run homer to tie up the game. Not to worry, if anyone was going to take the spotlight away from Machado, it wasn’t going to be the Nationals.
In the bottom of the fifth, Machado hit an RBI single and eventually make his way to third. That’s when Myers hit a sac fly to score Machado. Somehow this wouldn’t be the last time Myers gets a hit to score Machado. In the seventh inning, both would double, with Machado scoring on Myers’ hit. To the credit of Myers, he went 2-for-3 with a double, home run, and five RBIs.
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On the mound for the Padres was Ryan Weathers. He made his second start since being sent to Triple-A for innings control. This wasn’t a great outing for him. Over 5.1 innings pitched, he allowed seven hits, four earned runs, no walks, and struck out two. This was just the second time that he allowed four runs in his young career. The one positive is that he used just 71 pitches, which is efficient and helpful in limiting his usage.
Austin Adams and Emilio Pagan were the next two pitchers up for the Padres. Both walked two in their 0.2 innings of work but were able to escape unscratched.
Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.
