Padres jump on Nationals early, cruise to series-clinching victory

Miami Herald

6 days ago

WASHINGTON – There would be no regrets on Sunday.
The San Diego Padres scored five runs in the first inning, added on in both the second and third and then settled into an 8-1 rout of the Washington Nationals that completed a series win.
That was the Padres' response to knowing they had blown it the night before.
They had played well but hit poorly in a 4-2 loss on Saturday, a season-long theme they emerged from the All-Star break focused on changing.
Failure to come through in prime scoring opportunities, they know, can end up being the difference between making the postseason and a long winter.
On Friday afternoon, fresh from a quick trip to his home in Aruba, Xander Bogaerts was talking about the Padres' abundance of games decided by one or two runs.
He said: "The close ones you lose, those are the ones in the end, if you lose by a game or two, you're like, '(Expletive).' You know?"
Bogaerts and several other players do. They lost 42 games by two or fewer runs in 2023 and ultimately fell two game shy of the postseason.
Bogaerts' grand slam in the first inning got the Padres on their way Sunday, as they sent nine batters to the plate and made Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore throw 37 pitches.
Another run in the second on a two-out walk by Manny Machado, single by Bogaerts and single by Gavin Sheets made it 6-0, as Gore threw 31 more pitches.
Jackson Rutledge was warming up as the third inning began.
Cronenworth's second double of the game greeted Gore, and Elias Díaz's two-run homer made it 8-0 and ended Gore's day.
Rutledge, whose 6.80 ERA was second-worst among 170 qualifying relievers this season, ended up throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Nationals' lone run came on San Diego native Riley Adams' fifth-inning home run off Nick Pivetta, who tied a career high with his 10th victory over the season.
Pivetta (10-2, 2.81) spread three hits and a walk over six innings in his team-leading 12th quality start of the season.
The Padres entered the game having not scored more than six runs in a game since June 14. They scored seven on Friday, including five in the ninth inning, before losing Saturday.
The loss in the series' middle game was their 36th time scoring two or fewer runs in a game, sixth most in the major leagues but three more than any other team with a winning record. They are 11-25 in such games, which has the double-edged distinction of being the second-best record in the major leagues when scoring one or two runs in a game but also 14 games under .500.
Saturday's loss was also their 21st by two or fewer runs.
Their 34-21 record in games decided by such a slim margin is third-best in the majors. But the fact that more than 60% of their victories have required their bullpen to protect such slim margins is considered unsustainable.
They made sure that was not an issue Sunday.
Bogaerts' grand slam, the Padres' of the series and second of the season, followed walks by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Machado sandwiched around a single by Luis Arraez to start the game.
It was the Padres' first five-run first inning since May 10 in Colorado and their five-run inning of the series.
They had scored that many runs in an inning once in their previous 42 games entering this weekend after doing so five times in their first 54 games.
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