Sean Manaea and Padres ruin Tommy Pham’s Petco Park return
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
The San Diego Padres spoiled Tommy Pham‘s return to Petco Park with a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
The San Diego Padres welcomed the Cincinnati Reds to town in hopes of putting together a winning streak after splitting a four-game set with the Atlanta Braves over the weekend.
Well, things didn’t start off too well for the Padres as former San Diego outfielder Tommy Pham smacked a home run in the top of the first inning — and proceeded to hear some boos from the crowd at Petco Park.
TOMMY PHAM IS BACK IN SAN DIEGOpic.twitter.com/xwaqBJXIcB
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) April 19, 2022
Pham’s night didn’t stop there, either. He had himself somewhat of a revenge game, totaling three hits and falling just a triple short of a cycle in his return to downtown San Diego.
But, the Padres answered in the bottom of the first inning and got to young southpaw Nick Lodolo early with a Manny Machado two-run homer that had some impressive metrics: 111.9 MPH exit velocity and a launch angle of 18.
Just fourth homer in MLB this season with launch angle of 18° or lower.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) April 19, 2022
It was smooth sailing in San Diego after that, and Sean Manaea put together another terrific outing as the trade with the Oakland Athletics continues to look like a win for A.J. Preller.
Manaea finished his third start in a Padres uniform, going six innings and giving up just one run on six hits with a pair of walks and six punchouts. Surprisingly, Bob Melvin pulled Manaea after just 78 pitches and brought in Steven Wilson, who has quickly become one of the most used arms in the bullpen.
Nonetheless, the Reds’ offense went hitless in the final three frames and Taylor Rogers registered his fifth save of the year in yet another nice addition for the Padres.
Machado paced the offense once again, scoring twice and driving in two while finishing a triple shy of the cycle. In total, the Padres’ offense had just seven hits, and Ha-Seong Kim and Luke Voit accounted for the other two RBIs on the evening.
Sean’s settling into SD nicely.#TimeToShine pic.twitter.com/QqEKzNvE42
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 19, 2022
The lineup was funky as Eric Hosmer, and Trent Grisham got a bit of a rest, and Jose Azocar and both Jorge Alfaro and Austin Nola got starts on the evening.
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All in all, the Padres won another game in 2022 thanks to a strong performance on the mound. Manaea started it off with six strong, and the trio of Wilson, Rogers, and Pierce Johnson kept things in check and handed the Reds their seventh straight defeat.
The Padres will look to make it three victories in a row on Tuesday evening as Reiver Sanmartin faces off against Joe Musgrove in another 6:40 PST first pitch.
Matthew Wadleigh, born in Oceanside and currently lives in Fresno. He lives with his wife and 2 dogs and is a sports enthusiast. Retired drummer and member of the Fresno State Marching Band. He has been a Padres fan since childhood and has suffered during the struggles just like everybody else.