Voit, Cronenworth power Padres to rally, then rout of Cubs
Credit: AP Photo
After a 34-inning stretch where the Padres scored just ten runs, they exploded for 12 in the final four innings to rally from a five-run deficit. Luke Voit homered and drove in five runs, Jake Cronenworth added three hits and reached base five times, while six Padres had multi-hit days. After riding their starting pitching for the past few days, the offense was there when the pitching faltered.
Sean Manaea was on the mound for the Padres, and he had one of his worst starts in brown and gold. Manaea allowed five runs in four tough innings, giving up eight hits. Two of the eight hits were Willson Contreras’ home runs, which combined to put Chicago up 3-0 early. A triple from Nico Hoerner brought home J.A. Happ, extending the Cubs’ lead even further. Manaea allowed a double from Contreras and a single from Patrick Wisdom, which chased him from the game in the fifth. Kyle Tyler did allow Contreras to cross the plate, but he limited the damage. Manaea struck out five batters and walked just one, but he could not seem to stop the Cubs’ offense.
The situation looked very bleak for the Padres, as they’d picked up just three hits in their first five innings on offense. Kyle Hendricks had baffled the Padres offense, striking six batters in five strong innings. Jake Cronenworth started the sixth with a double, which lifted Hendricks from the game. Chris Martin came into the game for the Cubs, and that was not a good move for Chicago. Luke Voit blasted an opposite-field home run, bringing the Padres within three runs. Eric Hosmer slapped a single into right-center field before scoring on Nomar Mazara’s 98.1 mile per hour single. Mazara brought the Padres within one run when he came around on Ha-Seong Kim’s base hit. The Padres were within one run, but they weren’t done.
In the seventh inning, the Padres sent 12 batters to the plate, scoring six times, blowing the game open. Each of the first three batters of the inning reached, loading the bases with no outs. Voit came up again, blasting a bases-clearing double, putting San Diego up three runs. Two walks later, the bases were loaded again, which led to another change on the mound for Chicago. Nomar Mazara came up big again, with a two-run single, giving the Padres some insurance. Kim’s sacrifice fly brought home Jorge Alfaro for the tenth run of the day. Interim manager Ryan Flaherty described the Padres offense as a “Ferris Wheel,” as the entire team reached base in the win. Alfaro hit a solo home run in the eighth before Kim scored on Trent Grisham’s single in the ninth.
After Manaea’s struggles, the back end of the Padres bullpen came up huge. Kyle Tyler made his Padres and 2022 debut, shutting down a hot Cubs offense. He threw two scoreless innings, picking up his first major league win in the process. Nabil Crismatt added two more shutout frames before Ray Kerr finished the night with a scoreless ninth.
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The Padres won their second consecutive game to start the road trip, but they did it in a rare way. The same day they found out their offensive slugger and superstar Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s bone scan had not shown enough improvement to allow him to start a rehab assignment, they answered the call. The offense picked up a struggling Sean Manaea, moving to 2-0 on the road trip.
The win briefly moved the Padres into sole possession of first place, but the Dodgers’ 2-0 win ensured they leveled themselves with the Padres.
Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.