Jurickson Profar homered for the second straight game, Kyle Higashioka also homered and the San Diego Padres beat the Washington Nationals 12-3 on Wednesday night.
Washington took an early lead after a shaky first inning from San Diego starter Matt Waldron (6-9, 3.64 ERA) when he gave up four hits and three runs. However, those would be the only hits he would give up in his six innings of work, in which he also struck out four batters.
The Padres answered immediately in the second inning. Ha-Seong Kim reached on a walk and Jackson Merrill doubled him to third. Luis Arraez hit a two-out single to bring in both runners, then came around to score when Profar crushed his team-leading 16th home run of the season.
San Diego (54-50) tacked on two more runs in the third when Kyle Higashioka hit an RBI double to left and Merrill scored the next at-bat on Bryce Johnson’s squeeze bunt. They added five more runs in the fourth with the help of Higashioka’s two-run home run, his 12th of the season.
Here are the takeaways:
Padres' offense pounces
The Padres scored a dozen runs and had a season-high 20 hits. It might have been easy to forget that their 12-3 victory over the Nationals required a comeback from three runs down.
San Diego scored four in the second, two in the third, five in the fourth, and one in the fifth. By the top of the fifth inning, every Padres starter had recorded a hit or scored a run, with most of them doing both.
It was the Padres’ highest scoring total since their 13-1 win against the Diamondbacks on June 8. Their 20 hits were their most since they put up 21 on June 15, 2022, against the Cubs. The nine-run margin of victory was their fifth largest of the season.
Merrill, Machado and Bogaerts
Merrill came within a home run of hitting for the cycle and tied his career high with four hits, and Xander Bogaerts continues to rake since his return from the injured list with a season-high four hits and one walk.
Manny Machado also gets his flowers with his two hits, including his fifth-inning RBI double to center-field to bring in Bogaerts and give San Diego a 12-3 lead.
Tatis update
Fernando Tatis Jr. underwent an MRI over the all-star break and received some good news. The MRI revealed enough healing that he was cleared for light baseball activity – including swinging and running.
There is no timetable set for his return and manager Mike Shildt said that the stress reaction has not fully healed. The expected return for the Padres all-star right-fielder is sometime between August and September.
San Diego right-hander Dylan Cease (9-8, 3.76 ERA), who was dominant in his seven shutout innings against Washington on June 26, starts Thursday in the finale of the three-game series. Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin (2-9, 5.35) will try to avoid the season sweep and seek his 100th career victory.