The San Diego Padres (38-28) avenged Monday’s bitter defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers (40-28) with a novel offensive barrage on Tuesday, exploiting their opponent’s shorthanded pitching employees in an 11-1 win. Oddly sufficient, solely a type of runs got here through a homer, and it was unleashed by the perpetually hitting-challenged Martin Maldonado. That was solely the start of the peculiarities that transpired in Petco Park.
After LA supervisor Dave Roberts brutally let Matt Sauer endure by a 111-pitch, nine-run reduction outing, Kike Hernandez took the mound with a purpose to additional protect the taxed bullpen. Protected together with his pitching helmet, the two-time World Collection champion allowed one run on three hits and walked two batters in what was a historic 2 1/3 innings of labor.
It wasn’t fairly, however the veteran did sufficient to get his workforce to the tip of the sport with out permitting the Friars to trigger way more hurt. Padres All-Star middle fielder Jackson Merrill recommended Hernandez for his effort, going so far as to dole out lavish reward that had reporters bursting into laughter and scratching their heads.
Kike Hernandez saves the pen, however Padres even up the sequence with a monster exhibiting
“{For what it is price}: Jackson Merrill stated Kiké Hernández threw him the nastiest cutter he had ever seen,” ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez posted on X. “I requested if he was being sarcastic. He swore he wasn’t.”
Article Continues Beneath
The 2024 Nationwide League Rookie of the Yr runner-up is both joking or he’s insane. There is no such thing as a different chance. All that issues to the Padres and their followers, although, is that he’s a terrific expertise. Merrill was one in every of 5 San Diego gamers to file a multi-hit outing, going 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and run scored. These knocks didn’t come off Hernandez, nevertheless.
The punishing hurler, which is basically how Merrill described him, induced a floor ball to retire the 22-year-old within the seventh inning. He has now logged three reduction appearances in 2025, tallying a 2.08 ERA in 4 1/3 innings. He’s a surprisingly helpful arm for a ballclub that has greater than a dozen pitchers on the shelf. His presence mitigated the injury on what was a disastrous night.
Franchise nice Manny Machado added to his stellar marketing campaign with a three-hit, five-RBI efficiency. Xander Bogaerts was the one different hitter to notch multi RBIs (two), and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez had two doubles and crossed dwelling plate a team-high 4 occasions. Dylan Stop threw seven shutout innings, recording a whopping 11 strikeouts in entrance of the extremely appreciative dwelling crowd. Skipper Mike Shildt watched his guys put forth a whole effort.
The assured Padres will attempt to take the sequence on Wednesday, once they battle one other unpredictable hurler in Justin Wrobleski. The Dodgers, and apparently Jackson Merrill, hope that they’ll keep away from utilizing Kike Hernandez in that one.