Padres Even Big Series Against Arizona With A 9-4 Win

The San Diego Padres got some major pitching help at the trade deadline, and they followed up on the news by pounding out an important 9-4 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks to even their series with Arizona at a game apiece. 

Randy Vasquez was the pitching hero in this one as he returned to the rotation to make a surprisingly strongs start, and the Padres offense helped by getting six runs in the first two innings off Arizona starter Eduardo Rodrguez. 

Manny Machado had a big night, and he started the scoring with an RBI double. Jackson Merrill brought him home with a single, and Xander Bogaerts followed with another RBI base hit, and just like that it was 3-0. 

The Padres doubled their lead in the second, with Machado once again taking the lead with an RBI hit that scored two, and Merrill followed yet again with a single that drove home a run. 

That made it 6-0, and meanwhile Vasquez was cruising. He wound up pitching pitching six shutout innings as he gave up just two hits and a walk, and the Padres added another run in the sixth on a Machado RBI single. Freddy Fermin got in on the scoring surge with a two-run double, and at 8-0 the game looked to be over. 

But Arizona made it interesting in the seventh off German Marquez as the Diamondbacks scored four runs with a pair of home runs from Nolan Arenado and James McCann.

That cut the Padres lead in half at 8-4, but Bradgley Rodriguez and Griffin Canning stopped the bleeding with a scoreless inning each, and Jake Cronenworth padded the Padres lead in the ninth with an RBI single to account for the 9-4 final score.

Machado and Merrill supplied most of the offense, with Machado winding up with three its, four RBIs and a run scored. Merrill also had three hits, and his total for the night also included a pair of runs scored to go with two RBIs. Cronenworth also had a three-hit night. Both Machado and Merrill have been on a tear lately, which is an important development for the Padres offense. 

The win leveled the series at 1-1, and the Padres drew back to within a game of Arizona in the wild card standings. The Padres will now road test one of their new trade deadline acquisitions as Casey Mize takes the mound against Mitch Bratt for Arizona.