Machado Dismantles Arizona Early, Padres Cruise to 9-4 Win
Manny Machado went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI and drove in runs in three separate innings as San Diego buried Arizona 9-4 on Wednesday. Randy Vasquez made it look easy on the mound, spinning 6.0 innings of two-hit, zero-run ball to give the Padres' offense all the runway it needed.
The story of the night was how fast this one was over in spirit, if not on the scoreboard. San Diego came out swinging in the first inning — Machado doubled to left to score Tatis Jr., Merrill singled to right to score Machado, and Bogaerts singled to center to score Merrill. Three batters, three runs, and Eduardo Rodriguez was already in trouble. The second inning was worse for Arizona: Machado singled to right, scoring Bowen and Tatis Jr. to push the lead to 5-0, and Merrill followed with another single to right to score Rengifo and make it 6-0. That two-run single by Machado in the second was the decisive blow — Arizona's win probability dropped from 23% to 12% on that one swing, and the game was effectively over before the third inning began.
Vasquez was the quiet engine of this performance. He held Arizona to just 2 hits over 6.0 innings without allowing a single earned run, walking one and striking out one. That kind of efficiency against a big-league lineup looks like a pitcher operating with real command and confidence. Machado added his third RBI single in the sixth, scoring Rengifo to push it to 7-0, and a Fermin double to center in the seventh made it 8-0. At that point, Arizona's only job was to avoid the shutout.
They managed that, at least. Arenado hit a 400-foot home run to left center in the seventh to score Barrosa, and McCann followed two batters later with a 395-foot shot of his own to score Tawa — back-to-back long balls that trimmed the deficit to 8-4 and gave the home crowd something to cheer. But Cronenworth's RBI single in the ninth, scoring Song to make it 9-4, was the final word. Merrill finished 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, and Cronenworth also went 3-for-5. San Diego's lineup appears to have hit on all cylinders tonight — eleven hits off Rodriguez in 5.2 innings tells you everything you need to know about how the Padres attacked from the jump.