The San Diego Padres came into the game hot and continued that into today’s game. After five innings they were up 4-0 thanks to two Juan Soto home runs and a 2 RBI single from Ha-Seong Kim. The Padres had arguably their best pitcher on the mound this season in Michael Wacha. He gave the team a solid 6 innings of work giving up 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 BB, and 1 strikeout. One of the best strengths of the Padres as of late had been their bullpen but that would be the reason they lost tonight’s game as Luis Garcia gave up 2 9th inning runs that pushed the game to extras. After the Padres failed to score in the top half of the 10th the Giants capitalized as Mike Yastrzemski had a splash hit walk-off homerun that sent the Giants home victorious. 

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Controversial Mananging

Padres fans were outraged after the loss after manager Bob Melvin decided to put in Luis Garcia in the 9th inning over the very hot reliever Tim Hill who looked great in his 2 innings of work tonight. Postgame Bob Melvin said by the Giant’s pinch-hitting Austin Slater he opted to go with the righty Luis Garcia. He did this even tho 2 of the 3 next hitters would be lefty which if Hill was in he could have probably got out. Keep in mind that Tim Hill also only had 19 pitches thrown. It seems as Josh Hader was unavailable for tonight’s games after pitching the last 2 nights. This game was on par for the Padres season so far. 

The Bright Side

The bright side for Padres fans was that the offensive had a pretty good game all around. They were able to get Juan Soto going with 2 homers which is a good sign for the star outfielder. Also, they were able to get production from the bottom of the order which hasn’t been too good throughout the year. More consistent hitting performance’s like these can be good for the Padres as they move forward after today’s loss. 

Hitting End Game

The Padres have struggled with hitting with runners in scoring position all year long. Even though many go to point the fingers for tonight’s loss on Bob Melvin, the hitters in the 10th inning didn’t make a threat to score the runner from second. Poor at-bats were taken in extras as egos need to be put aside as not everyone can be the hero. Manny Machado had two on no out and struck out swinging. A bunt there puts 2 runners in scoring position with one out and eliminates the chance of a double play. Yes, you would like Manny Machado to have a chance to win you the game but in that situation that would have been a very smart play given the result of what actually transpired. Meanwhile, on the Giant’s side, they played small ball and got the win. The Padres also had no late-inning production which always can hurt teams especially when you get out to a big lead and feel like you can take your foot off the gas. 

The Padres will play tomorrow in game 2 of 4 vs the Giants at Oracle Park with a start time of 6:45 PST.