Padres bunt their way ahead, taking series opener against Reds

SAN DIEGO - Padres third baseman Manny Machado echoed a statement on Friday, "You don't win a championship by just one player. It takes a whole goddamn village to do it." 

Not only what he said was absolutely correct, but his words came to fruition on Monday night in San Diego's 6-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds (31-34) at Petco Park.

While the top part of the order continued to falter and finished 1-for-16 at the plate, the Padres (34-31), who have lost 11 of 13 games and have dropped four straight series for the first time since 2023, had to find solutions elsewhere. And to no surprise, it had to come from players that don't have as high of expectations of San Diego's big three of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill. 

Just like their success from earlier in the season, the production came from their bench players, who are now listed as everyday starters at this point. Similarly to those moments, tonight proved to be no different, but this time, it came from players who have been underperforming and from names that people aren't familiar with yet.  

The front runners were catcher Freddy Fermin and new, young outfielders Samad Taylor and Jase Bowen. Despite Fermin's struggles over a quarter of the through the season and the uncertainty from of how fast can the new faces get adjusted to the major league level, these group of players made the impact that this team desperately had to have to get back in the win column.     

Taylor early on found a way to influence the game by recording a double-play in the outfield during the second inning. After making a sac-fly on Edwin Arroyo, he quickly sent out a throw to get shortstop Matt McLain tagged out at home plate to keep Cincinnati off the board. The 27-year-old's defensive skills showcased again against McLain during the sixth inning, as he made a leaping grab up at the left-center field wall.  

"The highlight probably is more of throwing a runner out, but never take away from driving in a run," Taylor said. "Driving in a run is great, and right now, we're scuffling getting runs in, and any way we can get more runs and keep going, that's all we're going to do." 

Fermin made the opening blow to give the Padres the lead during the third inning. He unloaded on a low curveball out to left field for his third home run of the season and his third in the last three games.

Despite going ahead, right-hander Walker Buehler could not avoid keeping the Reds down during the fifth inning. The frame started off with a leadoff single to Arroyo, which led to a ground rule double by JJ Bleday and an RBI single from Sal Stewart to tie the game. 

Buehler was replaced after giving up a third consecutive hit and was replaced by right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez, who gave up the leading run in the sixth inning after Arroyo's sac-fly to center field to score right fielder Noelvi Marte. 

Going 4 2/3 innings, Buehler pitched a total of 86 pitches (54 counted for as strikes) in his 13th start of the season and gave up one run on eight hits, two walks and struck out four. 

Following Fermin's solo blast, it took awhile for San Diego to get anything going offensively against Reds' right-hander Andrew Abbott, who entered the game with a 2-0 record and 0.98 ERA in his career against the Padres. 

He would retire 10 batters in-a-row and had only given up two hits going into the seventh inning. However for Cincinnati, that's where the game took a 180. 

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts start the surge with a ground rule double and was followed up by Gavin Sheets with his RBI double to tie the game 2-2. Abbott's night was over following those at-bats, but the chaos in the frame only just started. 

Following the pitching change for reliever Tejay Antone, the two fresh faces Bowen and Taylor executed two bunt singles to return the lead back to the Padres. Fermin also laid down a bunt but was labeled as a fielding error by Antone after colliding with Eugenio Suárez to load the bases. The right-hander did get himself out of a no-out bases loaded jam, sitting down Tatis Jr., Merrill and Ty France in order. 

The offense built onto their lead  during the eighth inning with a pair of singles by Bogaerts and Bowen. Taylor drove them in with an two-run line drive single to left field off reliever Zach McCambley, and Fermin took home his second RBI of the night with a line drive single to center field. 

Their three-runs was the most runs they've scored in one inning since May 22.

"When you score that many runs in an inning, it feels very good," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. "Feels like, 'All right, we're starting to trend in the right direction and create some positive vibes.' It's a little bit more lively and there's some momentum. So, hopefully we can keep that momentum going and bring it into tomorrow."   

Just like how they wanted it, the Padres grabbed the lead and didn't surrender any ground courtesy of their arms of Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Mason Miller. Morejon, who credited with his fifth win, and Adam pitched a hitless 2 2/3 and Miller closed the door by striking out the side in the ninth. 

"Glad to kind of limit runs, at least, and keep us in it," Buehler said. "We've done really well at kind of taking advantage of bullpens this year. As long as we're in the game when we get back there, we feel pretty good." 

While it's just only one win and they'll need a lot more to catch up to the Dodgers (and the Diamondbacks), they have to start somewhere. The question now is if they can build off this and continue to head in the right direction. 

First pitch of tomorrow's middle game will take place at 6:40 p.m. and it will feature a pair of right handers on the mound. For the Padres, Lucas Giolito (2-1, 4.86 ERA) will make his fifth start and Chase Burns (7-1, 2.05 ERA) will make his 13th start for the Reds.