Padres Home Opener– No-No Joe dominates and the bats come alive  

Thursday’s game was the first game in Petco Park history with the humidor– expectations are for an increased home runs rate that came to fruition this evening; time will tell how that will impact the friars going forward.

Joe Musgrove took the field Thursday night in front of a capacity crowd against the defending World Series champs.

After a stellar 2021 season, Musgrove was awarded the first game in front of his hometown friar faithful. He was efficient with his 89 Pitches, navigating Atlanta’s lineup with little resistance. Musgrove would finish with six and two-thirds of shutout baseball, with six strikeouts, yielding four hits and no walks. 

After a lackluster performance in the one-run output against San Francisco, the offense got going early in this one. In the first inning, the Padres were able to take advantage of Starting Pitcher Charlie Morton’s wildness. He began his night hitting two batters with a Manny Machado single mixed in to load the bases. After a Luke Voit strikeout, Eric Hosmer stepped up to bat. Hosmer continued his hot start to the season with a clutch 2-out single that brought home the first two runs of the evening. The next batter Wil Myers took a first-pitch fastball to right field, bringing home the third run of the opening frame.

Following another solid inning from Musgrove in the top half of the second, rookie Shortstop CJ Abrams took Morton deep to left field for an opposite-field shot and his first career home run. His teammates gave him the silent treatment as he returned to the dugout, but the fans did not as they cheered loudly for their young prospects and first MLB curtain call. The Padres would tack on another run in the inning on a Luke Voit RBI double to jump out to a five-run lead. Voit would keep the fun going, plating two more in the sixth on an RBI single for his second and third run driven in for the game.

There was a strange moment in the seventh when Eddie Rosario clanked on a routine fly ball to right field, allowing Austin Nola to reach base for a three-base error which brought Manny Machado to the plate. Preceded by a 4-4 effort, Machado deposited a low breaking ball into the left-field seats for his first round-tripper of the season. This laser shot gave Manny his fifth hit of the night and the Padres a 9-0 lead.

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In the eighth, Hosmer’s heat continued as he doubled into the right-center field gap for his fourth hit of the evening. Wil Myers followed by plating his second RBI of the night, the 10th run of the game. Jurickson Profar contributed to the onslaught as he hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the 11th run. Finally, Nola singled in the 12th run of the night.

The Braves were able to add a run in the top of the ninth with a solo shot from Ozzie Albies, but this effort was too little too late as the Padres would hold on to win 12-1. The energy of the sellout crowd was palpable, Musgrove was fantastic, but the story of the night was the performance of the offense. The bats were alive in this one. We will need them again tomorrow night as MacKenzie Gore takes the mound for the first time in his Major League career.

James Kenyon

San Diego born and raised. Padres and Everton supporter… yes I’m a masochist. I’m a sports junkie with a love of stories. Hopefully we can learn a few things together on this adventure.