Citizens Bank Park- Philadelphia, PA

After having the day off due to yesterday’s showers, San Diego took advantage of a brutal day of Phillies pitching to take the front half of the doubleheader. Mick Abel, Max Lazar, Taijuan Walker, and Daniel Robert combined to dish out nine walks to a struggling Padres offense that needed them.

Despite the postponement of the initial contest, Tuesday saw no shortage of buzz in the clubhouse. After Matt Waldron made a spot start in the series opener, San Diego optioned the knuckleballer to Triple-A. In return, San Diego called up RHP Eduarniel Núñez, who’s likely to debut at some point today. Additionally, the Padres called up RHP Ron Marinaccio as the squad’s 27th man for the doubleheader.

Nick Pivetta took the mound for game one, facing the 23-year-old Mick Abel for Philadelphia. Fortunately for both hurlers, the rain had been consistent throughout the day prior, and neither of them suffered from warming up. However, Pivetta seemed to be the only beneficiary, as Abel couldn’t make it out of the second inning.

Despite minor drop-offs in spin efficiency and movement, Pivetta’s location was on point. He collected six whiffs and six called strikes through his first three frames. He finished his outing with 13 called strikes and 11 whiffs, thanks to some extra life on the fastball. Pivetta limited the Phillies to just one run on a round-tripper from the long ball specialist Kyle Schwarber, over six innings.

PHI – Kyle Schwarber Solo HR (26)

? Distance: 386 ft
? EV: 102.5 mph
? LA: 29°
⚾️ 80.4 mph curveball (SDP – RHP Nick Pivetta)
?️ Would be out in 30/30 MLB parks

SDP (6) @ PHI (1)
? 6th#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/JTSxX108d0

— MLB Home Runs? (@MLBHRs_) July 2, 2025

As for Abel, he suffered from five walks early on, thanks to some good patience from San Diego’s offense. They took 34 of his 53 pitches and were able to break through when it mattered most. Despite allowing just two hits, and only one above 80 MPH off the bat, Abel surrendered five earned runs.

The only solid contact he allowed was a double to Manny Machado, after he loaded the bases, and plated two runs, with four walks and a single in the inning. His swing put up a crooked number and moved Machado within five hits of reaching 2000 in his career. Afterwards, the Phillies reliever Max Lazar entered and walked Luis Arraez to score another run in the fourth inning.

Willing & Abel pic.twitter.com/CxUnU2RRRX

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 2, 2025

Bryan Hoeing came out of the bullpen first for Mike Shildt and the Padres. He quickly surrendered a leadoff double to J.T. Realmuto, on a middle-in two-seamer that he lined into the left-center field gap. An eventful inning continued with the speedy Edmundo Sosa sneaking a grounder inside of the third base line, and turning it into a triple. Quickly after, a wild pitch from Hoeing brought him home, thanks to an elusive slide by Sosa.

With lefties Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper coming to the plate, Shildt summoned his high-leverage left-hander out of the pen in Adrian Morejon. The Cuba native continued his impressive campaign, lowering his ERA to a stifling 1.89 on the season. He was able to punch out Harper and induced a groundout against Schwarber.

After Philadelphia’s bullpen retired 14 of 15 Padres hitters after the RBI walk, the Padres occupied first and second in the ninth following a walk and a defensive miscue. However, Arraez flew out and Gavin Sheets grounded into a twin killer in just five pitches, to end the chance.

Robert Suarez came on in the ninth for the save, in his first appearance since the blown save on Sunday. He retired just one batter while walking one and surrendering four hits, including the walk-off single.

It didn’t take long for the Padres to find themselves in another threatening situation.

J.T. Realmuto led off the inning with a single to the right-center field gap, on a fastball left over the plate. Suarez then retired Bryson Stott and Edmundo Sosa, but Brandon Marsh came through with a 2-out pinch-hit single. The knock scored Realmuto, who had taken second, and flipped the order over.

The climax of the action came on the basepaths with Trea Turner lining a single up the middle. Marsh attempted to take third, but appeared to be tagged out on a great relay by Jackson Merrill to Manny Machado. With the game in the hands of the call, the Phillies challenged, hoping to extend the contest. After a lengthy review, the call was overturned, and Kyle Schwarber, the winning run, came to the plate.

Suarez missed high to start the at-bat, but tossed 99, 100, then 101 MPH for three straight strikes to end the ballgame. The save tied him for the league lead with former Padre Josh Hader, and evened the series for San Diego.

FINAL: San Diego Padres 6, Philadelphia Phillies 4.

▪️ Robert Suarez strikes out Kyle Schwarber swinging to earn the save and close out the Padres’ 6-4 win#ForTheFaithful pic.twitter.com/VdNJ37vjYZ

— San Diego Strong (@PadresStrong) July 2, 2025

Following the close victory, Mike Shildt had loads of praise for the Padres’ hitters’ performance at the plate. Asked about the quality of at-bats, Shildt put it simply. “If we do that, this team’s gonna be virtually unstoppable”, he said, crediting Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr, and Xander Bogaerts specifically.

What stood out to Shildt the most was, obviously, the patience. He exclaimed, “We got back to being stubborn today”, implying that the patience aspect had been missing of late. He also made sure to commend Pivetta on his stellar outing, stating that “Nick made big pitches” and “was able to control counts.”

San Diego will have little time to rest, as the nightcap of the doubleheader will commence in just a couple of hours. Dylan Cease will make a pivotal start, following his disappointing outing last Friday. The effective left-hander Christopher Sanchez will provide the Padres with a challenge, as he’ll get the ball for Philadelphia.

San Diego will look to turn things around again against left-handed pitching, while the Phillies will hope to avoid a sweep of the doubleheader. The first pitch is set for 3:15 PM, with mid-80s temperatures expected to continue.

Willy Warren

A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a combination of around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X, and daily newsletters on the TikTok platform. Willy passionately studies Journalism at San Dieguito Academy, and is working to become billingual in Spanish to assist in communicating with Latin-born players and coaches.