After his three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday night propelled the San Diego Padres a 4-1 win over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, infielder Jake Cronenworth stated the obvious.
“This is a really important stretch and homestand for us going into the (All-Star) break,” he said. “We just have to finish this series off strong.”
With that as the backdrop, San Diego will try to win consecutive games for the first time since concluding a four-game winning streak from June 22-26 in the third of this four-game series on Wednesday night.
The Padres actually got a well-pitched game, a rarity during this rough patch that has seen them drop nine of the last 11 games, giving up 44 runs in three straight ghastly losses last week. German Marquez made his first start in just over two months a winning one, allowing just one unearned run in five innings.
Manny Machado fouled a pitch off his left big toe in the third and needed three minutes of treatment to stay in the game.
Cronenworth had an injury scare of his own as he took a grounder off the nose during batting practice.
Manager Craig Stammen said Machado, who barely ran on Gavin Sheets’ double play ball in the third or in the eighth when Tim Tawa dropped his fly ball in center, was able to move well enough to finish out the game.
“He made some good plays at third and he didn’t seem to be in pain,” Stammen said of Machado.
Michael King (5-7, 3.52) takes his last start before the All-Star break. He was no-decisioned Friday night in his team’s 4-3 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers, yielding three hits and two runs in six-plus innings with two walks and five strikeouts. King is 2-0 with an 0.92 earned run average in four career outings against Arizona.
The Diamondbacks counter with rookie Jose Cabrera (0-1, 4.73), who is coming off a no-decision in Friday night’s 7-4, 11-inning loss to Milwaukee. Cabrera lasted only 3 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and three runs while walking three and fanning three. This will be his first appearance against San Diego.
After rapping out 11 hits Monday night in an 8-0 rout of the Padres, Arizona managed only five on Tuesday night. Manager Torey Lovullo lamented that his team settled for one run after loading the bases with no outs in the first.
“We had him on the ropes and it was an absolute reversal in the second when he went out there up 4-1,” Lovullo said. “We made him throw (32 pitches) in the first and then he has a 10 and a nine-pitch inning.
“There’s a cheat code to every pitcher and we have to be stubborn to it.”
One bit of good news for Arizona Tuesday came when Lovullo revealed that reliever Justin Martinez, who’s been out all season after elbow surgery, could throw live batting practice next week and start a rehab assignment after that. The goal is for Martinez to come off the injured list in August.
–Field Level Media
