Padres 3, Diamondbacks 0
PHOENIX, Apr. 8 — Recent acquisition Sean Manaea pitched seven scoreless no-hit innings, and Tim Hill, Dinelson Lamet, and Taylor Rogers combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth, as the San Diego Padres blanked the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3–0, Friday night.
Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly pitched four scoreless innings, allowing four hits while striking out seven and walking two. J.B. Wendelken pitched a scoreless fifth, with the lone baserunner coming from a leadoff single by catcher Jorge Alfaro. He also struck out the leadoff man in the sixth, designated hitter Luke Voit, on a called third strike.
Padres Take Lead over Diamondbacks
The Padres broke the deadlock in the top of the sixth. Oliver Perez entered the game with one out and coughed up a sharp single to first baseman and Diamondback killer Eric Hosmer. Left fielder Jurickson Profar followed with a deep drive to left-center. It cleared the fence for a two-run home run, giving the Padres a 2–0 lead.
The Padres threatened again in the seventh after catcher Jorge Alfaro led off with a double. Center fielder Trent Grisham bunted him to third, putting a runner on third with one out and the heart of the Padres order coming up. But Sean Poppen, who started the seventh, fanned Manny Machado, intentionally walked lefty Jake Cronenworth, and retired Voit on a fly to deep center. “(Alfaro) put a good swing on a slider that I left over. From there, I was just trying to make good pitches. We made a game plan, we stuck to it, and we got good results,” Poppen said. Manager Torey Lovullo added after the game, “That was a key point in the game,” and he called the Machado strikeout “a big one.”
Hosmer led off the top of the eighth against Humberto Castellanos with a double to the left-field corner against the shift. The Diamondbacks appealed, saying he missed first. Umpire Sean Barber called him out on appeal, but a replay challenge overturned that out. Profar followed with a bunt up the third-base line. The throw to first by third baseman Drew Ellis was both late and errant, sailing wide of the bag and into shallow right. Hosmer scored easily. Profar tried to reach third, but a strong throw by right fielder Pavin Smith and diving tag by Ellis retired him.
Diamondbacks Break Up No-No, but Padres Slam the Door
Meanwhile, Sean Manaea followed in the footsteps of Opening Day starter Yu Darvish, holding the Diamondbacks hitless through seven. It was not until the eighth that the Diamondbacks finally broke through, once again off lefty Tim Hill. This time, David Peralta broke up the festivities. After a pop to third by center fielder Daulton Varsho, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo smoked a single to center. It deflected off the glove of a diving Jake Cronenworth and advanced Peralta to third. A foul pop to the catcher by Pavin Smith made for the second out. With righty Drew Ellis coming to the plate, Padres skipper Bob Melvin brought in righty Dinelson Lamet. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo countered with Opening Day hero Seth Beer, who flied to center on the first pitch and quelled the rally.
Castellanos, aided by a 5-4-3 double play, pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to keep the Diamondbacks within three. Padres closer Taylor Rogers, whom the team traded for Thursday morning, pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to finish off the Diamondbacks and earn his first Padre save.
Postgame Reflections
Merrill Kelly thought that his outing was “good. Obviously a little too many pitches (28) in that first inning,” he said. “I would have liked to go a little bit deeper, but with the short spring, that’s where we are right now.” Under normal circumstances, Kelly said, he would have been upset upon being lifted after four, but “we knew going into the season that it was probably going to look like this for the first little bit.”
“We Don’t Play That Game”
As Profar slid into third, he rolled over. He swung a closed fist in a smash motion, hitting Ellis in the bicep. He might have been swiping at the glove, bringing back memories of Alex Rodriguez in Game Six of the 2004 ALCS, but Peralta didn’t like it either way. Peralta told reporters, “I didn’t like it. (It’s) one thing to play hard and another thing to play dirty. Not even like he was trying to knock the ball. He tried to throw a punch. I let him know ‘Hey, man, don’t play like that. You can hurt our team.’ I’m gonna step up for my teammate. And I was letting him know, and he took it the wrong way. He was like, ‘I don’t care.’ But we don’t play that game, and I’m not gonna let anyone on the other team do that to my teammates.”
Looking Ahead
Manaea earned the win while Perez took the loss and Rogers, as mentioned before, notched the save.
Peralta, who broke up the no-no, said that this was “one of those games where we turn the page and come ready for tomorrow.” He and his teammates will look to do that as the Diamondbacks (1–1) and Padres (1–1) square off again on Saturday. Diamondbacks righty Zach Davies will face Padres righty Joe Musgrove, who threw the only no-hitter in Padres history in 2021. First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 pm Arizona time.
Main Photo:
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Players/managers mentioned:
Sean Manaea, Tim Hill, Dinelson Lamet, Taylor Rogers, Merrill Kelly, J.B. Wendelken, Jorge Alfaro, Luke Voit, Oliver Perez, Eric Hosmer, Jurickson Profar, Trent Grisham, Sean Poppen, Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth, Torey Lovullo, Humberto Castellanos, Drew Ellis, Pavin Smith, Yu Darvish, David Peralta, Daulton Varsho, Geraldo Perdomo, Bob Melvin, Seth Beer, Alex Rodriguez, Zach Davies, Joe Musgrove
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