The American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians scored six runs in the eighth inning to beat the San Diego Padres 7-0 on Friday night.
Padres starter Matt Waldron (5-9, 3.59 ERA) pitched a solid six innings, giving up six hits and striking out six. The knuckleballer did not allow a single walk.
San Diego only had four hits all game. Luis Arraez’s double in the third inning, and Xander Bogaerts, who reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on defensive indifference in the ninth, were the only Padres batters to reach second base.
The Padres (50-50) have lost seven of their last eight games and fall back to .500. They have scored a total of 12 runs in the last seven of those games.
Here are three takeaways:
HORRENDOUS EIGHTH
Cleveland had five hits and a bases-loaded walk, but José Ramírez’s two-run single highlighted a six-run eighth inning for the Guardians.
The Guardians began the bottom of the inning with four consecutive singles off Stephen Kolek. Austin Davis relieved Kolek with no outs and two on, then hit former Padre, Josh Naylor, to load the bases, and walked the next batter to bring in a run before getting an out and being replaced by Sean Reynolds.
Three more runs would cross the plate to give the Guardians a 7-0 lead before the Padres got their final out and avoided their third shutout in five games.
WALDRON SHINES AGAINST FORMER TEAM
Friday night marked Matt Waldron’s first start against the team that drafted him in the 18th round in 2019. Waldron was traded to the Padres a year later in a blockbuster move that sent Mike Clevinger from Cleveland to San Diego. Three years later, he has been one of the most reliable pitchers in the Padres' starting rotation.
The Padres right-hander only allowed one run in his six innings of work, which is the 11th time this season – second on the team behind Dylan Cease. Over his past 13 starts, Waldron is eighth in the league with a 2.63 ERA.
He threw his knuckleball for more than half of his pitches, which was more than any previous career start.
TATIS, MUSGROVE NEARING RETURN
San Diego got some good news during the All-Star break on the recoveries of both outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (right femoral stress reaction) and right-hander Joe Musgrove (right elbow inflammation).
Tatis, who has been out since late June, has resumed some baseball activity since the return of the All-Star break. As for Musgrove, who hasn’t pitched since Mid-May, threw his first bullpen session on Wednesday at Petco Park before joining the team in Cleveland.
Padres right-hander Dylan Cease (8-8, 3.99 ERA) will take on Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams (0-1, 3.77) in the second game of the series at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.