The San Diego Padres (68-60) began a six-game homestand, kicking it off against the Minnesota Twins (63-65). On the bump for the Padres was Randy Vasquez; he faced off against Connor Prielipp of the Twins.

Celebrating Players’ Weekend ? pic.twitter.com/RwRBJf8cfC

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 21, 2026

Vive la France!

After some disappointing offensive production in the series against the Mets, the Padres strike first against the Twins. In the bottom of the first inning with two outs, Manny Machado hit a soft liner to left for a single. This set up Ty France, who has been having a monster season, to get San Diego on the board. He would crush a low fastball 421ft into the second deck in left field to give the Friars a 2-0 lead early. His eighteenth home run of the year.

Big Eiffel Energy pic.twitter.com/dbgigLjNla

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 22, 2026

Twins knot things up in the fourth

Randy Vasquez started out hot, retiring batters quickly and efficiently. Thirty pitches through three innings. But in the top of the fourth was a little shaky. To start things off was Luke Keaschall, who singled to left. Byron Buxton would hit a groundball to third, where Manny Machado would retire Keaschall at second with a force out. Then Vasquez beaned Josh Bell, putting runners on first and second. Ryan Jeffers would fly out to right for the second out of the inning. But Kody Clemens would strike to get the Twins on the board with a triple to right field, scoring Buxton and Bell. Game tied 2-2.

San Diego plays station-to-station baseball to bring four across in the fifth

The fans at Petco Park got a front-row seat to some good ol’ station-to-station baseball from the Padres’ offense. To begin the bottom of the fifth, Austin Hays led things off with a single grounded to third. Freddy Fermin would line out to center for the first out of the inning. Jake Cronenworth would then work a walk, advancing Hays to second.

Next up was the red-hot Fernando Tatis Jr., who began the scoring with a hot-shot single to right, 110 mph off the bat, scoring Hays and moving Cronenworth to third. Following him was Luis Rengifo, who singled to left to bring in Cronenworth and advance Tatis Jr to second. Then Manny Machado would hit a single to right, scoring Tatis Jr. and pushing Rengifo to third. Ty France, who had the two-run shot earlier, got his third RBI of the night on a sac fly to right to score Rengifo, giving SD a 6-2 advantage. Jackson Merrill would strike out for the third time tonight to end the fifth inning.

Keep it movin’ ? pic.twitter.com/nF0noA19zE

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 22, 2026

Randy Vasquez goes seven deep in a quality start

What a night for Randy Vasquez, who goes seven innings for only the third time in his career. Other than the fourth inning, it was a perfect start from Vasquez. He had three innings with ten or fewer pitches and only had one inning of more than fourteen. No walks were a major highlight; the fewer walks Vasquez has, the better chance he has to have a good night. He finished the night with seven innings pitched, giving up two hits, no walks, two runs (both earned), and getting three strikeouts.

San Diego closes things out with Mason Miller

With a four-run lead, the Padres called upon Mason Miller to finish things off. This was a no-save situation for Miller, just getting him some work after not making an appearance for three days. He would strike out the Twins’ top of the order to give the Padres there sixty ninth win of the year.

Moving on to game two

The San Diego Padres (69-60) will continue the series at Petco Park vs the Minnesota Twins (63-66) with game two tomorrow at 5:40 PM PT. With a chance to win the series, San Diego has Casey Mize on the mound, looking to continue his good stretch of games since his career-worst start in his debut. For the Twins, they have Dean Kremer on the mound to try and tie things up at one apiece.

Wyatt Dearen

Hi Padres fans, I’m Wyatt Dearen. I am from Farmington, New Mexico, which is home to one of the most prestigious high school baseball tournaments in America, the Connie Mack World Series. When it comes around, I do color and statistics for the radio. I am currently pursuing a degree in Sports Administration at the University of Houston #GoCoogs. I have been a sports fan my whole life, following all the major sports leagues since I could walk, and it has been my dream my whole life to work in sports. Thankful to write about the team and for the East VillageTimes.