Cronenworth, Machado, & Musgrove spoil Giants party as Padres win in 10
Credit: USA Today Sports
The San Diego Padres won for the first time in over a week, playing the role of spoiler as Jake Cronenworth’s tenth inning double gave the Padres a 3-2 victory.
Joe Musgrove, who’s been one of the only bright spots in the Padres’ disappointing season, put a bow on his season, allowing just one run in five innings. His first-inning strikeout of Darin Ruf was his 200th strikeout of the season, the first Padre to reach that milestone since James Shields punched out 216 batters in 2015. The Padres actually showed some semblance of heart, battling back twice to tie the game, before Mark Melancon shut the Giants down in the tenth to get the win.
The Padres didn’t pick up a hit until Jake Marisnick led off the third inning with a sharp single to right field, but Giants ace Kevin Guasmann picked Marisnick off. The Giants knocked Musgrove around in the second inning, as a leadoff double from Brandon Crawford turned into a lead when trade deadline acquisition Kris Bryant hit a ground ball single. Those two hits proved to be the final time that Musgrove allowed a hit that left the infield, though he did have to work his way out of trouble in the fourth. Ruf led the fourth off with a chopper to shortstop, which he beat out. Musgrove then hit Crawford, but back-to-back lineouts and a groundout ended the threat. Musgrove struck out two of the final three batters he faced before ending his season with a Tommy La Stella lineout.
The Padres tied the game in the top of the sixth inning, as Fernando Tatis Jr.and Manny Machado hit back-to-back two-out singles, with Machado’s bringing home Adam Frazier to tie the game. All three singles were well hit, as they all had over a 70% chance to end up as hits. The lead did not last long for the Padres, as Austin Slater, pinch-hitting for Gausman, homered off Ross Detwiler’s first pitch. Ruf just missed a second consecutive home run, but Detwiler settled in to strike out the final two batters of the inning to limit the damage.
Jurickson Profar led off the seventh with a single, but the bottom of the Padres’ order failed to get anything going after Profar’s at-bat.
The Padres scraped across a run in the eighth inning, as Tommy Pham led off the inning with a pinch-hit single, before pinch-runner Javy Guerra moved to third on Trent Grisham’s double. Guerra came around to score on Manny Machado’s relatively shallow sacrifice fly, tying the game at two. The Padres put the go-ahead run in scoring position with just one out in the ninth inning, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat. Tim Hill set the Giants down in order in the bottom of the ninth, which eventually earned him the win, sending the game to extras.
Giants reliever Kervin Castro got the first two outs in the tenth, though Victor Caratini did move to third on Grisham’s groundout. Castro chose to walk Manny Machado to go after Jake Cronenworth, who slapped a double down the line to make the Giants pay.
Mark Melancon picked up his 39th save by getting a strikeout, a groundout, and a flyout to secure the win and to make the final day much more nerve-wracking for the Giants. A Padres win combined with a Dodgers win would force the Giants into a one-game playoff.
Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.