HOUSTON -- For the second straight day the San Diego Padres saw the decisive runs come home in the late innings as they fell 3-2 to the Houston Astros on Saturday evening at Daikin Park.
Isaac Paredes dumped a two-out single to shallow center field on the eighth pitch of his at-bat against Padres (15-6) reliever Jeremiah Estrada in the seventh inning, scoring Victor Carantini. The third baseman’s second hit of the night gave Houston a 3-2 lead.
It’s just the second time this season the San Diego bullpen has been beaten late, as Estrada replaced King with two outs in the sixth, then walked Carantini to start the seventh and allowed a pair of hits. Meanwhile the Astros bullpen combined to allow just one hit with two strikeouts and a walk in four innings of work.
After getting out of an early first inning jam when Paredes singled and Yordan Alvarez hit a ground-rule double with one out, San Diego starter Michael King allowed just one more hit in the second inning when Carantini doubled.
Despite the early bumpiness, King hummed along by retiring 13 of 15 Astros and allowing only a pair of walks. However in the sixth Paredes led off with a walk, then King hung a sweeper over the middle to Christian Walker, who crunched a game-tying two-run home run to left field.
King finished with 5 2/3 innings pitched, allowing the four hits with a pair of (earned) runs to go with seven strikeouts and the two walks. Houston starter Hayden Wesneski scattered six hits with two (earned run), four strikeouts and one walk in five innings.
The Padres had jumped ahead in the third when Fernando Tatis Jr. bashed a 402-foot home run down the left field line for his team-leading seventh round-tripper. Six of his long balls have been solo shots and this is the first time all season the Brown and Gold have lost in a game where Tatis has homered.
In the fifth Tatis scored the second run of the game when he hit a one-out single to left. Luis Arraez grounded out to move Tatis to second, who then stole third and came home when Manny Machado ripped a double to right-center field for a 2-0 Padres lead.
Tayler Scott threw two innings of hit-free ball with a strikeout to earn the win, Bryan Abreu had his seventh hold in the eighth and Josh Hader notched his sixth save despite Jose Iglesias leading off the ninth with a double to right.
Before the game San Diego placed Jason Heyward on the 10-day IL with left knee inflammation and recalled Tirso Ornelas from Triple-A El Paso, who went on to make his major league debut as a pinch hitter in the seventh and played center field for the seventh and eighth innings.
Ornelas was originally signed by the Padres in March of 2017, and has played for Fort Wayne, Lake Elsinore, San Antonio and El Paso in the San Diego organization. The 25-year old from Tijuana, Mexico, was slashing .281/.418/.359 with one home run, seven RBIs and successfully stole on three of four attempts in 17 games with the Triple-A Chihuahuas this season.
San Diego looks to claw back the final game of the series when Dylan Cease (1-1, 6.64 ERA) will start for the Brown and Gold, while Framber Valdez (1-2, 4.91 ERA) throws the first pitch for Houston at 4:10 p.m. at Daikin Park.
