Home runs give Lamet, Padres a 2-0 start to season

Dinelson Lamet, Wil Myers, and Manny Machado led the San Diego Padres to a victory on Saturday, which gives the team a 2-0 start to the 2020 season. 

The San Diego Padres defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1 in their second game of the season. 

The first three innings of the game went scoreless, with Dinelson Lamet and Robbie Ray each racking up strikeouts. Each pitcher walked a batter and allowed one hit over the first three frames, with Lamet striking out five batters and Ray striking out six. 

Starling Marte led off the fourth with a single up the middle and reached second on a passed ball off of Austin Hedges‘ glove. A one-out double by Christian Walker gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead, but Lamet was able to get out of the inning before allowing any more damage, stranding two runners. 

Tommy Pham started the bottom of the fourth with a walk and avoided getting picked off with a steal. After his big Opening Night, an illness kept Eric Hosmer out of the lineup, with Ty France handling first base. 

France singled to get Wil Myers to the plate with runners on first and third. With a 2-2 count and one out, Myers drilled a breaking ball to the left-field seats to give the Padres a 3-1 lead. Myers’ home run was the Padres’ first of the 2020 season. 

Following the home run, Edward Olivares doubled for his first Major League hit. Trent Grisham drew a two-out walk, and Ray was pulled after 3.2 innings, striking out seven while allowing three runs. 

In the fifth, Tommy Pham singled and followed it up with a steal, his fourth of the season in only two games. Profar drew a walk, but both runners were stranded. 

Marte led off the sixth inning with a double, and Lamet was pulled with 80 pitches (59 strikes). He ended with eight strikeouts, allowing five hits and a walk over five innings of one-run ball. 

Matt Strahm came in to relieve, getting his first two batters to ground out, and Austin Hedges threw out Marte attempting to steal third. Craig Stammen replaced Strahm in the seventh after he went three-up, three-down. 

Stammen was able to get both batters out, maintaining the Padres’ 3-1 lead entering the bottom of the seventh. 

Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the inning with a ground-rule double, and Manny Machado was able to shake off his two-strikeout game with a two-run home run to left-center, extending San Diego’s lead to 5-1. 

Kirby Yates entered the ninth in a no-save situation, going 1-2-3 and striking out two. 

The Padres’ plate discipline has looked much improved already, drawing seven walks on Saturday after drawing seven the night before.

Sunday’s matchup will feature Garrett Richards on the mound for the Padres as they look to improve to 3-0. Zac Gallen will be on the hill for the Diamondbacks as the snakes look to get their first win of 2020. The first pitch is at 1:10 PT. 

Bobby Murphy

Bobby is an Arizona State University alum and majored in Sports Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fall 2023. Bobby is from San Diego, loves to write, and has a deep passion for baseball, football and basketball. He has co-hosted the “Devils Talking Padres” podcast and was a digital reporter and photographer for Cronkite News/Arizona PBS. He also broadcasted high school and junior college football games in Arizona as a play-by-play and color commentator.