The Athletics force a rubber match on Wednesday as they win big over the Padres after a huge first inning

The San Diego Padres and “Las Vegas” Athletics met in Sacramento, California, for Game 2 of a three-game series.

The Friars aimed to stay hot by winning yet their third series of the season after coming off a series loss to the Chicago Cubs this past weekend. That did not happen this game as the Athletics got the best of them. However, they can still win the series on Wednesday.

Dylan Cease started for the Padres, who went up against Jeffery Springs.

The top of the first inning lasted almost 20 minutes. Manny Machado wasted no time in the batter’s box as he smacked an opposite-field home run with two outs in the inning.

El Capitán ? pic.twitter.com/ix2DYc56KM

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 9, 2025

Xander Bogaerts and Yuli Gurriel followed Manny. Bogey smacked a hard single past the A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson, and then Gurriel hit a double in the left-center gap to score Bogaerts from first base. Jake Cronenworth walked on full-count, and then José Iglesias reached first on an error from Gio Urshela.

San Diego led 3-0 after the top of the first inning.

The Athletics responded quickly. Cease struggled to get hitters out, and the A’s took advantage. JJ Bleday scored two on a double, and Miguel Andujar brought in a run. Urshela then smacked a double to score Bleday and Wilson, followed by an RBI single from Max Muncy. The A’s scored six runs off Cease, and his night quickly turned upside-down.

The Friars got one back in the second inning but failed to capitalize on having the bases loaded and zero outs. Bogaerts sac-fly scored Martin Maldonado. The Athletics led 6-4.

After the A’s scored a few more runs, the Padres were dealt with even more concerns. Both Cronenworth and Fernando Tatis Jr. left the game after suffering injuries in the batter’s box. The Friars were without two stars and had to try and battle back down five runs.

After the game, manager Mike Shildt gave an update on both players. “Just a little discomfort on the slide at third,” Shildt said about Tatis. His shoulder was banged up a bit. “Everything seems to be intact and in good shape. Strength good, and he’s not overly concerned,” Shildt said about Tatis. “Just some cramping from two days ago from getting hit on the ribs, and it just cramped up on him. Again, not overly concerning,” Shildt said about Cronenworth. Both men are day to day.

The first few innings were high-scoring, but then things started to settle down. On Tuesday night, Cease did not have his stuff, and the A’s scored nine runs against him. Alex Jacob relieved Cease of his duties and pitched two scoreless innings.

Bleday continued his big night with a solo shot in the 7th inning off of Yuki Matsui. They led by six runs, and the Padres’ hopes of coming back in this game were very slim.

The lineup looked very different than it did on Opening Day. With No Jackson Merrill, Tatis, or Cronenworth, Mike Shildt used Oscar Gonzalez, Gavin Sheets, José Iglesias, Brandon Lockridge, and Jason Heyward to fill the void. They combined to register one hit in the loss.

Dylan Cease allowed nine runs off of nine hits and walked three hitters in four innings. Springs pitched a gem after allowing four early runs. He ended with six innings, seven hits allowed, and struck out four.

San Diego aims to bounce back in the rubber match in an afternoon game. That one could be high scoring, with Randy Vasquez taking on Osvaldo Bido.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.