The Padres after last night’s close call were looking for a comfortable win tonight. Today was one of the best offensive performances of the season for the Padres. It wasn’t the best start the team has season with Jackson Wolf making his major league debut. He gave up 1 run but would leave two on before a rain delay halted the action. He would give up 2 more runs post-delay making the Tigers lead 3-0.
The Tigers weren’t the only offense to be hot out of the rain delay as with a Soto double and a Machado homer the Padres gained the lead 4-3 and never looked back. After struggling to score runners in scoring position all year the Padres did the opposite tonight. Only two starting batters did not record an RBI for the Padres today. The 2nd of 3 homeruns came from Ha-Seong Kim which made the lead 11-3 by that point. The last score of the game was a Luis Campusano 3-run homer which made the lead 14-3.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Bats are scorching hot
With today’s win, it is evident that this team wants to win. Since the all-star break, this lineup has looked stronger and better than they did at any point in the first half of the season. They are starting to get production from all over the lineup which didn’t happen for the most part all season. The highlight was seeing Luis Campusano get 4 hits including a 3 run homerun. Manny Machado and Juan Soto each had 3 RBIs.
Jackson Wolf’s Debut Game
For Saturday’s game, the Padres called up the 24-year-old left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf. In his 17 starts in Triple-A, he had a 3.39 ERA. Unfortunately for him mid-way through his star there was an hour-plus rain delay. While the stat line shows him giving up 3 runs in the middle of it he had to wait almost 2 hours in between pitches. Hopefully, he gets more opportunities to prove himself as he looked fairly confident post-rain delay. He also would get his first major league win tonight.
It’s Go Time
With today’s win, the Padres are proving to themselves and the league that they have what it takes to turn this season around for them. With one of the best lineup’s in baseball on paper they are finally starting to play like how many thought they would at the beginning of the season. If a few bullpen pieces can be added at the deadline this team could be scary in a playoff scenario for any opponent.
The Padres will try for a series sweep Sunday morning at 9:05 a.m. PT.
