Machado propels the Padres in extras with five RBI performance

ARLINGTON, Texas - Is this the reason why the Padres nor manager Craig Stammen haven't given up on Manny Machado?   

Besides his heavy contract and his larger than life personality, his experience for being known as "the guy" and to come up in the big moments is something that's hard to replace or ignore in the lineup. And his phenomenal five RBI performance against the Rangers on Saturday proved to be spot on.

"He's still Manny (expletive) Machado," Jackson Merrill said. "That'll never change." 

Machado, with two runners on, got ahold of reliever Joe Ross' sinker and sent it out to left center field for the go-ahead three run homer in the tenth inning, which ended up being enough for San Diego to win 6-4 at Globe Life Field.

"Do like you've done it a million" Stammen said to Machado while on deck before his game winning home run. "We've come to expect Manny to do that every single time he comes to the plate, and that's unrealistic but, you know, he's had the career he's had. He is the person that he has, he has the confidence in himself. That is undeniable and that makes him believe in those situations he's the best man to play."  

His 13th home run of the season capped off a 2-for-5 outing where he earlier hit an RBI double to score Fernando Tatis Jr. in the third inning off former Padres first round selection MacKenzie Gore and a sac-fly in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game while trailing 3-1. 

"The homers are there, the RBIs are there," Machado said. "Key situations when I'm up there, you still gotta be afraid. I can do damage like I did today. It doesn't matter, you see those numbers up there, you know, you see the back of my jersey and you're gonna know who I am." 

Later in the inning, Jackson Merrill evened the game on the first pitch from right-hander Tyler Alexander, who replaced right-hander Cole Winn after forcing a ground out to Xander Bogaerts that advanced Samad Taylor to third base. 

Despite the eight runs scored through the last three frames and as well as the 11 runs scored during the first inning last night, it was surprising that both teams struggled to get anything on either starting pitcher. 

Right-hander Walker Buehler threw a respectable 87 pitches (60 counted for strikes) through 5 1/3 innings. The only run he surrendered came in the sixth inning after giving up back-to-back doubles to Josh Jung and Wyatt Langford, which caused him to quickly be pulled for reliever Kyle Hart, who stranded the inherited runner in scoring position following a strikeout and ground out. Buehler finished his outing tying his season-high in strikeouts (7), giving up five hits and at one point sat down nine batters in-a-row. 

"I think he just gets us off to a good start," Stammen said. "He's been very good early in games and you know, allows us to get our offense going a little and give them a chance to score runs. But the other thing is he's not giving up very many hits, he's not walking anybody, he's getting ahead. He's just very efficient. He's pitching like a pitcher that knows what he's doing out there with a lot of confidence and we know Walker doesn't lack confidence. And he's using that to the best of his abilities out there on the mound. (It's) fun to watch him pitch." 

In the month of June, the 31-year-old has 1.71 ERA and 22 strikeouts, solidifying himself as the team’s best starter over the recent stretch. In his last seven starts, Buehler has pitched a total of 36 1/3 innings and possesses a 2-1 record with a 2.72 ERA. 

Texas jumped ahead 3-1 during the seventh inning against reliever Jason Adam. First baseman Jake Burger, who had two RBI the night prior, sent out a four-seam fastball 408 ft to right center field for his 13th home run of the season. Adam did recover from his mistake by forcing a ground out and striking out a pair to get through the frame. 

Lefty Adrian Morejon (W, 6-1) pitched a nearly flawless eighth and ninth inning, punching out five batters and one hit allowed. Making his first appearance since returning from personal matters, right-hander Mason Miller closed out the tenth inning and earned his 20th save of the season. Miller did give up an RBI single to Wyatt Langford, who reached on base from an off line throw by Machado. 

While it's early to give this team any praise offensively, the Padres have shown some positive signs over their last three games. During that span, they've scored 19 runs and have recorded 33 hits. Players like Taylor, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games, went 1-for-3 with two runs, Tatis Jr. went 2-for-5 with two doubles and three runs and Merrill went 3-for-5. 

It's the first occurrence in some time where the bottom part of the order didn't have to contribute for the big names in the lineup. Blake Hunt, who appeared in last night's game but didn't have an at-bat, made his first major league start at catcher but finished 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and was replaced by Rodolfo Durán to pinch hit in the ninth inning. 

The finale of the series and the road stand will be tomorrow with a 11:35 p.m. first pitch. The Rangers will have right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (6-7, 4.23 ERA) on the mound while the Padres still have not named a starter.