SAN DIEGO – In a game where they never led until the final play of the game, the San Diego Padres showed their ‘grit squad’ mettle to top the Miami Marlins 4-3 in 11 innings at Petco Park on Memorial Day.
Tyler Wade came on as a pinch runner for Manny Machado, after the Padres (30-22) put him 90 feet away on a Gavin Sheets ground out. When Marlins (21-31) reliever Cade Gibson bounced a curveball that got away from Liam Hicks, Wade’s read and speed produced the decisive run on the wild pitch for San Diego's first extra innings win of the season.
"You're just reading it and you're trusting your instincts, you've seen so many of them throughout your career," Wade said. "I know that (Hicks) glove picks a lot so I was just trying to be ready for that, and I think (Gibson) threw a bunch of fastballs in a row, so it was a good time for a breaking ball and I was anticipating that."
T-RIZZY pic.twitter.com/AaKBnCYgaW
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 27, 2025
The decision to replace Machado with Wade came down to it being "a bit of a speed play" according to manager Mike Shildt, who also credited Wade for his ability to read balls "on the ground, timing, contact and speed."
Machado had already come through when he squared up a 2-0 cutter on the outside third of the plate from reliever Calvin Faucher, knocking off the left field scoreboard to tie the game in the eighth. It’s the second straight game he’s homered, bringing his season total to six, with three coming in the last four contests.
"You know it's going to be there at the end of the day," Machado said of his recent power surge. "I've been making good contact, just right at people (and) that's just how baseball is some times. It definitely does feel good that they're going out of the ballpark now."
It picked up starting pitcher Randy Vásquez, who had a bulldog effort in allowing six hits and three earned runs early, then turning in five strikeouts and one walk over 6 1/3 innings.
The Marlins cracked five hits the first time through the order, getting two-runs in the first on an RBI double by Jesús Ramírez and an RBI single by Connor Norby. Then Ramírez added a solo home run with two outs in the second for an early 3-0 lead.
Xander Bogaerts started a two-out rally in the fourth with a hard single back up the middle, then Cronenworth reached when Conor Norby sailed the throw from third base. After Luis Campusano worked a full count walk, Jose Iglesias yanked it down the third base line for a two-RBI double to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Denis Poroy - Imagn Images
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Randy Vasquez (98) delivers during the third inning against the Miami Marlins at Petco Park.
After need 29 pitches to get out of the first inning and sitting at 39 through two innings, Vásquez faced the minimum over his final 14 batters. The lone base runner came when Sánchez worked a full count walk in the fifth, then he was erased on a strike out-caught stealing double play.
"20 (pitches) is a long inning, wouldn't track him to get into the seventh," Shildt said, then noted the bullpen game on Saturday against Atlanta. "(Vásquez) and (catcher Martín Maldonado) went to work, he really pitched his tail off to get us into the seventh and keep it right there."
The Padres bullpen kept the trend up, as Miami recorded just one hit over the final nine innings of play as Adrian Morejon earned his second win of the season after pitching an unblemished 11th with a strikeout.
"They've been grinding man, they've been going and getting after it and tonight was lights out," Shildt said.
David Morgan made his MLB debut in the eighth inning, coming in with one out after Wandy Peralta pitched an inning of relief with a walk and a strikeout. Morgan got Augustín Ramirez to line right to Jake Cronenworth on a first pitch slider, then closed the inning with a pop out.
Robert Suarez and Jason Adam also came on and held the Fish in line with each recording a strikeout. Gibson took his second loss of the season for Miami.
Stephen Kolek (2-1, 2.84 ERA) is slated to get the start for San Diego in the second game of the series, facing Max Meyer (3-4, 4.15 ERA) for the 6:40 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday at Petco Park.
This story was updated at 10:27 p.m.