The San Diego Padres came from behind to win the first game of their road trip against the Cleveland Guardians, as they spotted the Guardians three runs early and came back to get a tough 7-5 game.
The game was rough around the edges throughout, with the Padres threatening in both the first and second, but it was the Guardians who got on the board first as Nathaniel Lowe hit a solo homer off starter Michael King. Brayan Rocchio nicked King with another solo homer in the third to make it 2-0, and Cleveland added another run as three singles culminated in an RBI single by Lowe to make it 3-0.
The Padres struck back in the fourth and fifth innings off Cleveland starter Gavin Williams. The runs in the fourth came on a two run homer from Xander Bogaerts, and Fernando Tatis Jr. got things off to a good start in the fifth with a solo shot. An RBI double from Luis Campusano brought two more to make it 5-3.
The Guardians narrowed the lead on an RBI double from Petey Halpin after an Angel Genoa single and a throwing error by Bogaerts at short to make if 5-4. But Campusano struck again in the seventh with another RBI double, and Bogaerts added a sacrifice fly to left to make it 7-4.
Yuki Matsui pitched a scoreless seventh in relief of King, who wound up giving four runs on eight hits in six innings to go with a walk and four strikouts. Only three of the runs were earned, but it wasn’t his best night by far as he left some key pitches in the middle of the plate.
Jeremiah Estrada stumbled in the eighth as he allowed a double to Lowe, with Genoa reaching on an error by Ty France at first, and Estrada basically handed Clevelend a run on a wild pitch to make it 7-5.
Bradgley Rodiguez came on to close it out with Mason Miller unavailable due to his recent workload, and he immediately give up a double to Rocchio, who went to third on a groundout by Steven Kwan. Rodriguez then came back to strike out Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez to finish it up and give the Padres the win.
It was the first career save for Rodriguez, and the win once again showed this team’s toughness and resilience. The two teams will meet again tomorrow night with Randy Vasquez going up against Joey Castillo.