On Friday night the Padres made four errors and lost Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jurickson Profar, their 2nd and 3rd batters and a pair of likely All-Stars, to injury. Usually that would lead to a loss, not just for the Friars, but for most teams.
This Friars lineup, however, has more length to it than maybe even they realized. After falling behind 4-1 to the Brewers, San Diego's bats went boom in a 9-5 win that ran their winning streak to three games. First, the bad news.
Tatis Jr. suffered a right triceps contusion when he was hit on the elbow by a Colin Rea fastball while Profar's balky knee flared up when he hit a double to right field. No update on their immediate future was available but if either one is out for a while San Diego's already thin outfield will be severely tested. On defense Ha-Seong Kim made a pair of throwing errors and Kyle Higashioka was called for a pair of catcher's interference infractions.
Those setbacks were overcome because the Padres All-Stars came up huge. Luis Arraez jump-started the comeback with a 2-run home run down the right field line in the 4th inning, his 2nd dinger of the year to cut the lead to 4-3. After that is was the Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado show.
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Cronenworth hit a walkoff home run on Thursday night and the slugging 2nd baseman was even better on Friday. In the 6th inning he launched a solo homer to tie it 4-4 and spark another rally. Machado followed with a double and scored on a base hit by Donovan Solano single. The Brewers tied it in the 7th but had no answer for The Crone Zone. After Profar's double (and removal for pinch-runner Jose Azocar) Jake singled to left to put San Diego back on top, part of a 5-for-5 outing and Cronenworth's first career 5-hit game. The Friars scored twice more in the inning on a bases loaded walk and an error.
But, a little more breathing room is always welcome. In the 8th inning Machado singled to score Cronenworth (who had doubled), Manny's 4th hit of the night for the final tally of the game. The Padres have already secured at least a tie of their 4-game set with the Brewers and can win it on Saturday with Randy Vasquez on the mound against fellow rookie Carlos Rodriguez.
