Gore K’s 10, Padres score often in 8-5 win over Reds
Credit: Padres
Hello again. After a two-year break from writing due in large part to obtaining a college degree, I’m excited to be back and writing articles for East Village Times yet again (with a degree in hand). And what better way to return to writing than writing about a Padres victory?
On Tuesday night, the San Diego Padres utilized a four-run third inning to power their way to an 8-5, series-clinching win against the Cincinnati Reds. With the win, the Padres have clinched both season series against Cincinnati and move to 5-0 on the season against a team that is struggling to win games. The Padres also move to 10-3 against teams with a losing record so far this season (they are 2-4 against teams with a winning record).
The Padres started the scoring early in the second inning via a sacrifice fly from Luis Campusano after three walks issued in the inning from Reds starter Vladimir Gutierrez (who issued six walks in his outing).
San Diego came right back in the third inning and scored four more times, started by a triple from Trent Grisham and singles from Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado. Jurickson Profar followed with a three-run home run that just cleared the wall in right-center field.
Profar has provided consistently good at-bats in the middle of a depleted Padres lineup and, by hitting his fifth home run of the season Tuesday, is now one behind the NL home run lead (6). Machado also chipped in with three hits of his own, including an RBI double in the ninth inning.
The four-run third inning followed a similar outburst on Monday night, where the Padres scored eight runs on seven straight hits en route to a 9-6 series-opening victory.
The Reds struck back for a run in the following inning via an RBI double from Kyle Farmer, which scored Tommy Pham. The outfielder was initially ruled out at home plate on a relay throw from C.J. Abrams, but the call was promptly overturned. Pham hit his third home run of the season to score Cincinnati’s third run of the night, and Farmer finished the night 4-for-5 with four doubles.
Eric Hosmer responded with an RBI base hit of his own in the fifth inning. Coming into play today, Hosmer led all qualifying MLB hitters in batting average (.390). He kept his hot bat going Tuesday by checking in with two walks and two hits, including crushing his second home run of the season in the eighth inning.
Despite scoring half their runs in one inning, Padres starter MacKenzie Gore needed little support by throwing five strong innings and picking up a career-high ten strikeouts. By completing five innings, Gore became the 16th Padres starter in 19 games to complete five innings (this includes the game started by Nabil Crismatt in place of Blake Snell). Gore also became the first Padres starter of the season to strike out double-digit batters in one game.
What was arguably most impressive about Gore’s outing was his ability to get outs without relying heavily on his fastball, which was the case in his first two starts.
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Five of Gore’s ten strikeouts came via the fastball, four via the slider, and one via the curveball. He also maintained his velocity steadily throughout the evening, including a 97 mph fastball for his final strikeout of the game against Pham.
The Padres will look to earn the series sweep against Cincinnati and move to 3-0 on their road trip on Wednesday afternoon, with game time set for 9:35 am PST. Nick Martinez will be on the mound, looking for his first win in a Padres uniform. Tyler Mahle will counter for the Reds.
Sammy is a 2021 graduate/college baseball player with a degree in economics from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Currently, he resides in a suburb of Portland called Lake Oswego. Sammy previously wrote for EVT from November 2017-November 2019, and is back again as of April 2022.
In his free time, Sammy enjoys spending time outside, playing golf, and watching his hometown Padres.