Machado’s three-run swing sends Padres past Diamondbacks after late scare

Every Arizona lead met a louder answer

San Diego struck first when Jackson Merrill singled to centre and Dustin Harris scored in the opening inning, but the Padres never got to settle into a quiet night. Arizona pulled even in the second when Geraldo Perdomo came home on a pickoff error by catcher Ethan Salas, then moved in front in the third when Gabriel Moreno singled to right and Tim Tawa scored.

The Padres answered immediately. Ty France grounded out to first to bring Harris home and move Merrill to third, and Gavin Sheets followed with a run-scoring double that put San Diego back ahead 3-2. Arizona flipped the score again in the fourth on James McCann’s 412-foot, two-run homer to centre, a shot that scored Pavin Smith and made it 4-3.

That edge lasted only until Machado came up. His 351-foot drive to right in the bottom of the fourth scored Salas and Fernando Tatis Jr. and turned a one-run deficit into a 6-4 Padres lead. It was the game’s cleanest turning point: Arizona had shown enough offence to threaten, but San Diego kept responding with the bigger swing.

A deep lineup kept the pressure on

The Padres did not treat Machado’s homer as a finish line. Bogaerts added a solo homer to left in the fifth, and later in the inning Tatis Jr. grounded out to score Jake Cronenworth. In the sixth, Cronenworth lined a single to centre that brought home France and Merrill, stretching the margin to 10-4.

That steady accumulation mattered as much as the headline blast. Harris finished 2 for 5 and scored twice. Machado went 2 for 5 with three RBIs. Merrill had two hits, two runs and an RBI, while Cronenworth added two hits and two RBIs of his own. Salas chipped in two hits despite the earlier error, and Bogaerts reached base three times with his homer and two walks. San Diego’s 13-hit night came from more than one corner of the order.

Arizona, to its credit, kept making the Padres work. Tawa went 3 for 4 and scored twice, Ketel Marte collected two hits, and McCann supplied the Diamondbacks’ lone homer. Moreno and Nolan Arenado each drove in a run. But the missed chances were impossible to ignore. The Diamondbacks struck out 12 times and stranded 23 runners, a punishing total for a club that still managed 10 hits and six walks.

Strong bridge work, then a finish that turned uneasy

San Diego needed offence because its pitching line was mixed. Walker Buehler lasted 3 2/3 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits. The middle relief group did the calming work. Yuki Matsui recorded the last out of the fourth, and Bradgley Rodriguez, David Morgan and Adrian Morejon followed to combine with him for 4 1/3 scoreless innings. That stretch held Arizona in place long enough for the lineup to build separation.

Arizona’s pitching could not match that steadiness in the middle innings. Jose Cabrera gave up five runs in 1 1/3 innings, including Machado’s three-run homer and Bogaerts’ solo shot, and Dennis Santana allowed two more runs over the next two innings. Those frames were the difference between a back-and-forth game and a chase.

Our take: this was a convincing offensive win wrapped in a messier finish than San Diego would have liked. The Padres showed real value in the way they answered each Arizona push and kept adding on instead of relying on one big inning. Still, the ninth inning and the earlier throwing error are reminders that cleaner late-game execution would have made the result feel as comfortable as the score once suggested. For Arizona, the route to a better outcome is easier to spot than to stomach. A team that puts 16 runners aboard cannot afford 23 left on base, and a staff that allows 13 hits and five extra-base hits leaves almost no room for those missed opportunities.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Merrill singled to center, Harris scored, Machado to third.

2. 2nd Inning

   Perdomo scored on pickoff error by catcher Salas, Carroll picked off second.

3. 2nd Inning

   Perdomo scored, Carroll to second on pickoff error by catcher Salas.

4. 3rd Inning

   Moreno singled to right, Tawa scored.

5. 3rd Inning

   France grounded out to first, Harris scored, Merrill to third.

6. 3rd Inning

   Sheets doubled to shortstop, Merrill scored.

7. 4th Inning

   McCann homered to center (412 feet), Smith scored.

8. 4th Inning

   Machado homered to right (351 feet), Salas scored and Tatis Jr. scored.

9. 5th Inning

   Bogaerts homered to left (380 feet).

10. 5th Inning

    Tatis Jr. grounded out to second, Cronenworth scored, Salas to second.

11. 6th Inning

    Cronenworth singled to center, France scored and Merrill scored, Bogaerts to third.

12. 9th Inning

    Perdomo walked, Tawa scored, Marte to second, Nootbaar to third.

13. 9th Inning

    Carroll grounded into fielder's choice to second, Nootbaar scored, Perdomo out at second, Marte to third.

14. 9th Inning

    Arenado singled to center, Marte scored, Carroll to third.