ST. LOUIS — How good were the Padres Tuesday night in St. Louis? Consider this: Manny Machado won a nine-pitch battle against Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas by blasting a home run into the visiting bullpen in the second inning — and it probably wasn’t the most impactful nine-pitch battle by a Padre that night.
It was Jake Cronenworth who won a fierce left-to-left battle against Cardinals reliever John King in the seventh inning. With the deciding run on third base, Cronenworth fouled off five pitches and then singled to right-center field — the decisive moment in San Diego’s 7-5 victory at Busch Stadium.
The 2024 Padres offense in a nutshell.
“We’re not going to give up,” Machado said. “We have to keep working hard.”
“That’s just who we are,” Cronenworth said.
Manager Mike Shildt added: “It’s typical of the way we hope to compete.”
San Diego trailed twice Tuesday night, and both times the response was quick. After Dylan Cease gave up two runs in the first inning, the Padres answered with four runs in the second, thanks to Machado’s home run. It was his 160th as a Padre, which puts him one point behind Adrián González for second on the franchise list and three points behind Nate Colbert’s record.
After St. Louis took the lead in the fifth on Paul Goldschmidt’s two-run home run, the Padres took the lead back in the seventh. Mason McCoy, who was recalled to the major leagues last week and has since taken over as the regular starting pitcher in the ninth, drew a one-out walk. Luis Arraez followed with a single.
And speaking of productive at-bats, there aren’t many better than Jurickson Profar’s against King in the seventh inning. At 0-1, he struck out, allowing McCoy and Arraez to execute a flawless double steal. At 0-2, he threw a deep ball to center field, bringing in McCoy for the tying run.
“A pro takes a pro at bat,” Shildt said (executing the pun to perfection). “And then Croney does his thing.”
Of course, Shildt had the option to replace Cronenworth, as he had already done this season with a lefty on the mound. He had Donovan Solano on the bench, but the Cardinals almost certainly would have gone with a righty in that scenario. So Shildt chose Cronenworth.
“I have confidence in him,” Shildt said. “He’s going to show quality and determination in those important moments.”
That’s exactly what he did. King threw Cronenworth just about everything he had. Cronenworth blew it. Finally, on the ninth pitch, King’s sinker hit too far into the inner half. Cronenworth sent it to right-center field, scoring the winning run.
“That’s the kind of situation you have to be in,” Cronenworth said. “That guy is tough. I’ve got the winning run on third base. I’m just trying to fight to get something to hit and find some green.”
From there, the Padres bullpen locked things down. Machado finished the game with his second standout defensive play of the night, making a carom off the third-base bag before shooting across the diamond to catch Nolan Arenado. Earlier in the game, Machado had adjusted perfectly when the ball slipped through his fingers, picking it off in mid-air and shooting to first base to catch Iván Herrera in the fifth.
Machado is in great shape across the board. He started the season slowly after right elbow surgery. And while he says he won’t be 100 percent until 2025, he’s clearly a different player than he was earlier in the season.
“My body feels better,” Machado said. “Every day it gets better. I also like the heat a little bit.”
It was 98 degrees on the first pitch, to be precise. And while Cease refused to acknowledge that the conditions had anything to do with his shaky performance, his sweat-soaked uniform told a different story.
Cease wasn’t himself, but he left the field with the Padres leading, before Bryan Hoeing gave up his first home run with the club – Goldschmidt’s homer that gave the lead. The Padres, as they so often do, had an answer.
They have the best batting average and the lowest strikeout rate in the major leagues. And on Tuesday night, it was clear why.
“This team is a hard-working team,” Machado said. “We don’t strike a lot. We put the ball in play. We’re aggressive when we have to be. But we don’t want to throw it in the zone. Because we could do some damage to him, too.”
