Aug. 21 (UPI) — The San Diego Padres have hammered homers at a surprising rate, with grand slams in four consecutive games and back-to-back walk-off wins. The Padres latest exploits came in a win over the Texas Rangers.
Jake Cronenworth played the role of hero with an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead the Padres to the 8-7 win Thursday at Petco Park in San Diego. Eric Hosmer smashed a fifth-inning sinker into the right field seats for the team’s fourth grand slam in as many games.
The Padres are the first team in MLB history to hit grand slams in four consecutive contests.
“I think the grand slam thing just shows how good this team is,” Hosmer told reporters. “It’s somebody different every night.
“Most nights it’s Fernando [Tatis Jr.], but we find a way to do it and that’s what great teams do.”
The win completed a four-game sweep for San Diego. The Padres (14-12) are now four games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
Tatis — the MLB home run leader — sparked the grand slam streak when he went deep against the Rangers on Monday. Wil Myers hit the second bases-loaded blast on Tuesday. Manny Machado smacked a walk-off grand slam to lead the Padres to another win over the Rangers on Wednesday in San Diego.
Myers gave the Padres a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first inning of Thursday’s clash. The Rangers answered with a two-run homer from Jose Trevino in the fifth frame before Hosmer stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the inning.
Austin Hedges, Tatis and Machado stood on base and watched Hosmer unload on a 1-1 sinker from Rangers starter Kyle Gibson. Hosmer hacked the 93.8-mph offering for a 366-foot homer run to right field. The ball traveled 103.4 mph off of Hosmer’s bat before it cleared the outfield fence and bounced into the seats.
The numbers on the historic blast.#FriarFaithful | @Padres pic.twitter.com/uQ45rPFy3N— FOX Sports Slam Diego (@FOXSportsSD) August 21, 2020
The Rangers tied the score with a three-run double from Danny Santana in the top of the seventh inning. Trevino then returned to the plate and hit an RBI single to left field to give the Rangers a 6-5 lead.
Ty France and Hedges each hit solo home runs for the Padres in the bottom of the eighth inning before Nick Solak forced extra innings with a solo home run for Texas in the top of the ninth inning.
Myers began the bottom of the 10th frame on second base, in accordance with MLB’s new extra-innings rules for the shortened 2020 season. Cronenworth earned a 3-1 lead in the count in the leadoff at-bat. He then smacked a Luis Garcia fastball to center field to plate Myers for the winning run.
Hosmer went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, a run scored and a walk in the win. Machado went 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Trevino went 2 for 5 with three RBIs and two runs scored for the Rangers. Santana went 1 for 4 with three RBIs in the loss.
Gibson allowed six hits and five runs in five innings in his start for the Rangers. Padres starter Dinelson Lamet allowed two hits and two runs in five innings.
The Padres host the Houston Astros in the first game of a three-game series at 9:10 p.m. EDT Friday at Petco Park. The Rangers (10-14) face the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three-game series at 9:10 p.m. EDT Friday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
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