Coming off a series win in Atlanta, the Padres returned home for a three-game series with another NL East foe. 

Randy Vasquez took the mound for the Padres, coming off four efficient starts in May.

Vasquez has seemingly found his command after posting a 5.48 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in April. The right-hander pitched into the seventh inning, tossing 6.1 innings and allowing three runs, all in the first two innings. Vasquez labored through 29 pitches in the first inning, which saw him allow two runs on base hits from Agustin Ramirez and Connor Norby. Vasquez allowed a home run to Jesus Sanchez in the second inning, launched to right field at 111 mph. D

espite the early struggles, Vasquez did not allow the long first inning to rattle him, as he ultimately struck out five batters. Vasquez posted a 23% whiff rate in the game, and while he doesn’t get the most whiffs (ranking in the bottom 1% in the league in whiff rate), he was able to use his full arsenal to induce soft contact.

The Padres were in for a challenge against former Padre Ryan Weathers. Weathers had previously faced the Padres as a Marlin back in August of 2023, a game in which he allowed a grand slam to Ha-Seong Kim. Weathers has rebuilt his craft since then and came out guns-a-blazin’. The left-hander struck out six batters in 5.2 innings of work.

The Padres were able to get to Weathers in the fourth inning with a dose of two-out hitting. Xander Boagerts, who had a miserable road trip at the plate, singled up the middle off a Weathers fastball, and Jake Cronenworth topped a grounder to third. The inning should have ended there, but third baseman Connor Norby airmailed the throw to first base, allowing Cronenworth to reach. After a walk to Luis Campusano, Jose Iglesias stepped up to face the Marlins’ southpaw. Iglesias did what he does best, lining a middle-middle changeup to left field to score two runs. Iglesias had been 2-for-3 with the bases loaded this season, and added to that mark tonight. 

Martin Maldonado made an impact behind the plate in the fifth, as with a runner on base, Vasquez dotted a cutter at the bottom of the zone. Jesus Sanchez, the runner at first, took off on the pitch, and Maldonado nailed the throw to second base, with Jose Iglesias applying a swift tag to secure the double play. 

Wandy Peralta tossed an inning of relief, generating some ugly swings from the Marlins batters, who as a collective had never faced him. Two days after throwing 37 pitches, Peralta threw 17 to keep the game tied. Mike Shildt called on right-hander David Morgan in the eighth with one out, and Morgan did his job. The former Mission Viejo High School alumni, Agustin Ramirez and Eric Wagaman, retired on six pitches.

Leading off the eighth inning against San Diego native and Hilltop High alum Calvin Faucher, Manny Machado turned on a 2-0 cutter, launching it to left field at 104.8 mph. The homer was Machado’s sixth of the season, and his second in as many days. Machado is getting hot after a rough road trip (then again, it was a rough road trip for the whole team). 

Mr. 305 ? pic.twitter.com/TA6O67QY50

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 27, 2025

After a scoreless ninth from Robert Suarez, the Padres had an opportunity to win in walk-off fashion in the ninth, but Elias Diaz (pinch-hitting for Maldonado) grounded into an inning-ending double play to send both teams to bonus baseball. Jason Adam came on for the tenth inning, and was able to leave the automatic runner stranded, striking out Victor Mesa Jr and retiring both Liam Hicks and Jesus Sanchez on grounders. 

With right-hander Tyler Phillips out for his second inning of work, and Elias Diaz on second base, the Padres had the winning run on base. Fernando Tatis Jr led off the inning, the owner of the Padres’ last three walk-offs, and nearly beat a grounder to third. Jackson Merrill lined an outside changeup at 97.9 mph, but right to the glove of Kyle Stowers in left field. A 2-2 slider in the dirt to Manny Machado allowed Elias Diaz to advance to third, but Machado lined out to Jesus Sanchez in right field, sending the game to the eleventh. 

With Adrian Morejon on the mound in the eleventh, the Marlins had a chance to pull ahead, but Morejon punched out Agustin Ramirez in humiliating fashion. Morejon then retired the next two batters, fielding his position for the final out. Facing the lone left-hander in the Marlins’ bullpen (Cade Gibson), Gavin Sheets grounded a sharp grounder to second, moving Manny Machado up to third base. Tyler Wade replaced Machado at third while Miami brought in another former Padre in Graham Pauley to serve as a fifth infielder (try throwing that in your score sheet). Xander Bogaerts drew a 3-0 count before being intentionally walked, and Jake Cronenworth came up to the plate with a five-man infield still in effect. On a 1-2 pitch, Gibson spiked a slider that bounced off the catcher’s mitt, Ramirez, deflecting to the left of the plate and allowing Tyler Wade to scamper down the line. Ramirez made a good throw to Gibson covering home, but Wade’s headfirst slide allowed him to beat the tag, scoring the winning run. 

T-RIZZY pic.twitter.com/AaKBnCYgaW

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 27, 2025

“That was a huge one,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said following the win. It was Machado’s 861st game as a Padre, officially surpassing his mark of games played as a Baltimore Oriole. 

The Padres continue their series against the Marlins on Tuesday at 6:40 pm. In an odd twist of fate, right-hander Stephen Kolek faces off against the team that drafted his older brother with the No. 2 pick back in 2014, while former No. 3 overall pick Max Meyer starts for the Marlins.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.