There was a buzz at Petco Park on Monday afternoon, and it wasn't just because the Padres beat the Tigers 3-0. It was because of right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.'s return to the lineup.
Tatis Jr. returned to the field after missing 72 days with a thigh injury. He went 0 for 4 on the night, but the stadium was buzzing, and he felt the energy.
"It's a beautiful feeling, man," he said. "I wish I could put it into words, but I had goosebumps, and my energy went right through the roof.
"And that was the push that I definitely needed, and it was just beautiful all the way around."
Joe Musgrove was at the mound on Monday and was coming off a quality performance against the Cardinals in his last outing. He went six innings, giving up three hits, no runs, and struck out eight batters.
Musgrove was wheeling and dealing.
"I always have this feeling of wanting to impress my teammates," Musgrove said. "I want them to feel good and talk good about me, and having a guy that's been out of the lineup for a while, I wanted to give him a good showing today, and I did."
The offense had eight hits with three earned runs.
The man of the match on the offensive side had to be Luis Arraez, who had two RBIs and was crucial to getting the win.
In the bottom of the third, Mason McCoy got to second base after he hit a single and a throwing error by pitcher Brenan Hanifee to first base that allowed the Padres shortstop to get to second.
The next batter was Arraez, who hit a single to right that brought the speedy McCoy in for the game's first run.
In the eighth inning, Kyle Higashioka and McCoy got on base to wait for Arraez to come up to bat. He ripped one to center field when Higashioka came in to put the team up 2-0.
A couple of betters later, Manny Machado hit one to right to bring Arraez home to put them up 3-0.
Closer Robert Suarez came in to get his 31st save of the season in the 9th to put the game away.
One very interesting aspect of this team is that every night, someone different makes a big play for this team. A week ago, rookie Jackson Merrill hit a walk-off homer. On Sunday afternoon, Xander Bogaerts, against the Rays in the 9th inning, got the sacrifice RBI to win the game.
On Monday evening, Arraez's two RBIs earned the Padres a win and a one-game lead over Arizona for the top wild-card spot.
"No one here is playing hero ball," Arraez said in Spanish. "Here we are a team. If I don't hit well today, the guy behind me will do it.
"There is a saying, "If you can't do it, the guy behind you has your back and will do it. That is the kind of team San Diego is."
The Padres are coming off a tough stretch of playing 18 games in 18 days, and Padres manager Mike Shildt spoke highly about Machado's leadership and positivity during that stretch.
"This could have made or break the season for us," Machado said. "This 18 stretch made us stronger as a team."
The Padres have Tuesday off and will get back at it on Wednesday. Shildt announced the return of pitcher Yu Darvish, who has been out since May 29th.
"It's going to be great," Shildt said. "It's going to be fantastic.
"Ball came out really good two times he's thrown clearly took care of himself during his time away. So we're really excited to see him pitch on Wednesday."
