The San Diego Padres improved their winning percentage to 5-to-1 with their third consecutive sweep.
The Padres defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-0 behind four solo home runs on Friday at Petco Park, which sold out for the 24th time (43,660). Improved to 33-34 on the season.
Starter Michael Wacha faced a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning, but reliever Steven Wilson extinguished the flames and pitched 6.2 scoreless innings of four-hit, one-walk, five-strikeout relief to improve to 7-2 on the season with a 2.89 ERA. He is currently the only Padres starter on pace to make the All-Star team. Waka, who debuted in 2013, has one All-Star selection to his credit, in 2015.
The Padres jumped out to an early lead in the first inning on leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. Manny Machado hit his seventh home run of the season in the third inning for a 2-0 lead.
With Waka on the mound, the Padres added a run in the sixth when Tatis Jr. doubled, stole third and scored on a wild pitch, followed by Juan Soto’s 11th of the season to make it a 4-0 game.
But the Padres’ offense didn’t stop there. Veteran Nelson Cruz, returning from the disabled list with a hamstring strain, hit a fan service home run in the eighth inning to delight the 43,660 fans in attendance.
Ha Sung Kim, who has struggled at the plate of late, was out of the starting lineup in favor of Rougned Odor at second base. Manager Bob Melvin brought Ha-Sung Kim in for O’Dowd in the sixth inning to shore up the defense. In his first two at-bats, Kim grounded out and flied out, dropping his batting average to .234.
The hero against the Guardians was right fielder Tatis Jr. who went 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, one RBI, two stolen bases and a one-man show at the plate on an infield play in the ninth inning. Center fielder Trent Grisham also had a complete game at the plate, on the mound, in defense and at the plate, including a flying catch of a hit-by-pitch.먹튀검증
The Guardians had an anemic offense, managing just five singles off Waka and reliever Tim Hill. Starter Aaron Cibali did not make it out of the fourth inning and took the loss, allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. He is 2-2 with a 2.67 ERA.