Nine-run inning lifts Padres past Red Sox – San Diego Union-Tribune

BOSTON — In a stadium that hosted its first game 112 years ago, the Padres made history Friday night.

The first nine batters they sent to the plate in the fifth inning reached base and scored before an out was made, only the second time a Padres team had done this.

The nine runs they scored in the fifth – the most ever by a National League club in an inning at Fenway Park – were all they needed to beat the Red Sox 9-2.

“That’s the best possible result we can get in one inning,” said Kyle Higashioka, who led off the scoring with a two-run homer.

At least for the first nine batters, it was almost perfect. The only other time the Padres’ first nine batters scored in an inning was August 2, 1995.

The victory was the eighth in nine games for the Padres (45-41) and moved them to four games above .500 for the first time this season.

They also appear to have avoided what would have been a major loss, as X-rays of starting pitcher Randy Vasquez’s right arm came back negative after he took a 98 mph line drive ball to his throwing arm near the elbow.

Vasquez was three outs away from qualifying for the win when Ceddanne Rafaela led off the bottom of the fifth with a shot that ricocheted off the pitcher and bounced to Ha-Seong Kim at shortstop. Vasquez bent his arm once, then fell to his knees on the grass in front of the mound, clearly in pain.

With manager Mike Shildt, pitching coach Ruben Niebla and the eight other position players in a circle around him, Vasquez was examined by head athletic trainer Mark Rogow.

It was clear almost immediately that Rogow was indicating Vasquez should be removed from the game, but the pitcher resisted before eventually heading to the dugout with Rogow. As the coach held his right arm, Vasquez put his left hand over his eyes.

The Padres, who are already without Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish until after the All-Star Game at the earliest, believe the injury to be a forearm contusion. Vasquez did not have a bandage on the area and the swelling appeared minimal by the end of the match.

“I hope I can be on the field the next time I start,” Vasquez said.

Four relievers finished the game, with Stephen Kolek (2-1) getting the win after going scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings.

Vasquez, who pitched five scoreless innings against the Brewers on Saturday, didn’t allow a run until the fourth inning.

Not much had happened in the game thus far, with both teams having two hits each.

The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a leadoff single and walk by Connor Wong with two outs.

And then, suddenly, it was a circus of hits and runs – two homers, a double, five singles and a walk before the 10th batter of the fifth inning was retired. In total, the Padres sent 13 batters to bat in the top of the fifth inning.

Kim started the series with a single before Higashioka put the Padres ahead with his eighth homer in 44 at-bats – a blast that flew well past the Green Monster.

A Bryce Johnson double, Luis Arraez single and Jurickson Profar walk loaded the bases and ended Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta’s night. Jake Cronenworth trailed 0-2 against reliever Greg Weissert before lining up a changeup under the zone in left field for two runs.

After Manny Machado singled in the infield to load the bases, Donovan Solano singled up the middle to drive in two more runs. Jackson Merrill then sent a ball 407 feet to center field for a three-run homer.

A strikeout by Kim was the first out of the inning.

They had done enough.

“A nine-run inning,” Merrill said. “You can’t ask for anything better than that.”